21 Feb 2017

Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB)  chief executive officer, Mr Pusoesele Moshabesha has implored stakeholders to come up with intervention strategies that the organisation can adopt in growing the aviation sector.

He said it is not a secret that the aviation plays an important role in the country's socio-economic sphere hence stakeholders input is vital in advancing the growth of the sector.

He made the plea during a stakeholder engagement forum which aimed to explore challenges faced by CAAB and to identify approaches to addressing the challenges.

He pointed out that CAAB needs help from stakeholders in finding ways in which they could think carefully about how in these current unfavourable economic environments, the aviation could best provide the rest of the aviation industry with the support they need to expand their opportunities.

Mr Moshabesha revealed that stakeholder engagement is a development that they want to sustain going forward as they had realized that together, they could move in tandem and grow as a unit.

He said the goal of the meeting is to learn more on what the government priorities are and align the organization initiatives and resources to facilitate the overall government priorities.

He observed that aviation makes a significant contribution to the promotion of trade and investment and it is therefore fitting that the government has injected much needed funding towards the development of aviation infrastructure.

He said they bank on the stakeholders' insights to help them find ways of maximizing and marketing the use of the facilities for the benefit of the nation.'

For his part, the chairman of CAAB board, Captain Mark Sampson said it is important to meet as the government, industry and broader community to discuss and resolve challenges facing the aviation industry with an aim to grow and render it more responsive to the expectation of all.

He mentioned that the gathering also meant to fine tune the CAAB Strategy Framework for 2015-2020 as a basis for the promotion and growth of the industry as well as economic development.

He hoped that stakeholders would suggest priority areas that they could consider important as they commence the implementation of the NDP11as far as the aviation sector is concerned.

Captain Sampson further revealed that it is not the government nor CAAB intention to tell stakeholders what they think is the best way moving forward adding that they intend to involve them and understand how best they could work together to enhance the industry.

He believed that the gathering would come up with a clear programme of action which could be used as a spring board towards an economically viable aviation industry. BOPA