31 Jan 2017

The Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry (MITI)  has started working round the clock to realise the Vision 2036 Pillar of Economic Sustainable Development, and  National Development Plan 11 priority area of  Developing diversified sources of economic  growth.

This was said by Minister of MITI Mr Vincent Seretse who is also Member of Parliament for Lentsweletau/ Mmopane when giving a key note address at the commencement of the sixth leadership forum in Selebi Phikwe on Sunday that is scheduled to take place until Tuesday.

The forum is a platform where MITI leadership and its parastatals meet to map out the strategic direction of the ministry and identify priority areas that the ministry will be delivering on in the coming financial year and beyond.

The  end result of the forum is expected to guide the ministry towards intended destination of impactful implementation of polices, strategies and programmes that will help realise Vision 2036 and NDP 11 objectives.

The Minister said according to the Vision 2036 pillar ‘Economic Sustainable Development,’ Botswana should have a strong economy which is diversified and private sector led with sustainable business opportunities by 2036 and also have a broad platform that will give way for employment creation for Batswana.

Minister Seretse said MITI will ensure that the prevailing environment avails opportunities for both local and foreign investors to create sustainable wealth in the country.

He said his ministry and its parastatal will aligned their strategies and programmes with Vision 2036 and National Development Plan 11.

He said a number of policy initiatives will be required in order to locate and operationalise sustainable development as the core of NDP 11.

He said in this context major programmes and projects in key sectors such as manufacturing must be subjected to sustainability appraisal, planning and implementation during NDP 11 to ensure that social, economic and environmental objectives are maximized and harmonized.

He said his ministry must facilitate condusive environment for local manufacturers to ensure that their cost of doing business is relatively low culminating in fairly priced locally produced quality goods and services.

Minister Seretse further indicated that employment creation is one of the government’s priorities underscored in Vision 2036 and NDP 11 and his ministry is one of the critical drivers of this priority area.

He explained that the rate of job creation in the economy has been sluggish, with an unemployment rate of 20 per cent according to Statistics Botswana Selected Statistical Indicators 1966 to 2016 report.

He noted that the youth are the ones who have been hit hard the most with an average unemployment rate of 35.4 per cent.

“This therefore calls for a robust action plan aimed at rejuvenating economic activities in the country to create the much needed jobs for Batswana and reduce abject poverty, he said.

The legislator went on to explain that regarding Global Competitiveness Report that was released in September last year, Botswana was ranked number 64 out of 138 countries.

He said that there was significant drop in work ethic from 19 per cent in 2015 to 16.2 per cent in 2016.

He added that access to financing also moved up as the second most problematic factor in 2016 followed by inadequately educated workforce.

He said another decline was recorded in the intensity of inefficient government bureaucracy from 12.7 per cent in 2015 to 9.5 per cent in 2016.

“ On the other hand, the 2017  ‘Doing Business Report’ indicates that Botswana improved one place up, from position 72 in 2016 to 71 in 2017,”he said adding that despite moving one place up, Botswana regressed 10 positions under the  ‘Starting a Business Indicator’, backsliding from position 143 to 153.

“In light of all this, it is critical that concerted efforts are directed towards speeding up implementation of ongoing ‘Doing Business’ reforms in order to improve the country’s rankings and attract ‘Foreign Direct Investment’ to facilitate the realisation of Vision 2036 pillar”. BOPA