19 May 2013

The Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) has commended government for passing the Town and Country Planning Act, which will reduce red tape for commercial property development.

BOCCIM president, Mr Alex Monchusi said at the High Level Consultative Council in Gaborone on May 16 that the passing of the act would allow investors in far areas to have their application for planning permission approved locally instead of waiting for a sitting of the Town and Country Planning Board in Gaborone.

“We hope the attended regulations will also be published without delay, so that no time is wasted in improving applications for building and planning permission,” he said. He said BOCCIM observed with optimism that BURS was making good progress in establishing electronic filing of tax returns, which was good for the private sector and would go a long way to ease the pain of paying tax.

On other issues, Mr Monchusi said BOCCIM was looking forward to productive engagement on the diamond cluster. He said the investment community was watching Botswana with keen interest as it shepherded the migration of diamond aggregation from London to Gaborone.

“By believing in areas which we hold comparative advantage, we are putting Botswana on a course for opportunity growth and prosperity,” he said. Mr Monchusi said government was not committed to BOCCIM’s long standing proposal for an electronic single window to reduce turnaround time for imports and exports.

He said the single window had helped a number of countries to reduce turnaround time and cost of doing business. “It has also made business transactions easier and predictable,” he said.

On another note, Mr Monchusi said BOCCIM was disturbed that the government procurement rules were putting local manufactures at a disadvantage. “We have cases where local manufacturing sectors lose out on government tenders to retailers and this undermines our diversification efforts. In many cases, the retailers offered no tangible price of quality benefits, we will like the situation to be reviewed as a matter of urgency,” he said. 

Mr Monchusi said BOCCIM was concerned about the high rejection rate of work and resident permits, including visas which he said has unintended consequences on Botswana’s skills development particularly on placement of Batswana in other countries.

 “We wish to express our concerns that the inflexible work permit and visa regime is having a chilling effect on inward investment.” He said this was also effecting negatively on Botswana’s skills development particularly on placement of Batswana in other countries.

The BOCCIM president reiterated the need for keeping the economy open to skilled immigrants, foreign capital and technology. ENDS