06 Dec 2016

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) registered P377 million of investment expansions during 2015/16 financial year.

Delivering State-of-the-Nation Address in Parliament on Monday (December 5), President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted through BITC in 2015 amounted to P1.493 billion compared to P1.489 billion the previous year, while domestic investment amounted to P1.253 billion compared to P238.4 million the previous year. In 2015, BITC further facilitated exports valued at P2.2 billion.

The President said BITC had been attracting investment in areas of competitive advantage such as cargo and logistics, beef, coal and soda ash benefitiation, auto components, Information Communication Technology and leather production.President Khama said Botswana’s potential as a centre for trade and investment had been enhanced by the signing of the European Union - Southern African Development Community (EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which accorded duty free and quota free market access for Botswana’s exports to the EU market.

“Under this Agreement, our infant industries can be protected against EU imports from established industries. The Agreement also provides for transitional safeguard measures for Botswana’s sensitive products,” he said.

The President said to support industrial development, provision has been made for the application of export taxes on up to eight products from Botswana for a period not exceeding 12 years from entry into force of the Agreement.

“In addition to benefiting from sourcing inputs for production within the SADC and EU regions, Botswana industries have also been accorded the opportunity to source raw materials and intermediate inputs from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, as well as EU Overseas Countries and Territories,” he said.

President Khama said the Agreement further supports the objectives of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan of Poverty Eradication and specifically the industrial pillar, where member states envisage transformation of the region through value addition.

“Government is considering the enactment of an Investment Facilitation Law, which will establish an investment code for Botswana and stipulate service standards and turnaround times for facilitating investors,” he said. ENDS