07 Aug 2016

The year 2016, is significant not only to Botswana celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of Independence, but has also seen the commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Botswana and Japan. 

Since 1966, the two countries have enjoyed unity through shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. 

Speaking at the event to commemorate the relationshp between the two countries, Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale said those essential elements had indeed been the bedrock of the two countries’ friendship and cooperation. 

He also said the opening of respective resident diplomatic missions on each other’s territory had increasingly propelled the countries to broaden the existing friendship and cooperation to cover a wide range of critical areas such as energy, tourism, education, culture, sports, environment as well as people to people interaction. 

 “This is a relationship which the government and people of Botswana continue to cherish and hold dear. It is therefore, our wish that this friendship and cooperation continues to prosper for the mutual benefit of our countries and peoples. I remain confident that the flame will burn eternally for generations to come,” said Mr Molale. 

Meanwhile, Botswana has benefited immensely from the government of Japan’s generous development assistance through the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF0), Japan’s official development assistance programme and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development process. 

The benefits include grant aid assistance for grass-roots-human security projects, which has been used mostly for the construction of classrooms across the length and breadth of the country. 

Mr Molale also noted that Botswana was grateful for the technical assistance the country had and continued to receive from Japan. This includes volunteers, experts, scholarships and training offers in the various fields of wildlife conservation and management, sports, health, education, governance, ICT and energy. ENDS