30 Oct 2017

New envoys of Colombia and Mauritius to Botswana have promised to move with haste in facilitating economic cooperation between their  countries  and Botswana.

The two are Ambassador Ms Maria Olarte and High Commissioner Mr Vijaye Lutchmun of Colombia and Mauritius respectively.

Presenting letters of credence to President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama yesterday (October 30), Ms Olarte expressed gratitude for having been granted an opportunity to represent her country in Botswana.

“In my interaction with the President, we agreed that it is most important to organise very fast and lift the waiver for the visas for our people to visit the two countries for tourism, business and trade easily,” she said.

She said there was room for skills sharing between local entrepreneurs and their Colombian counterparts.

Sharing his road map as the new High Commissioner of Mauritius to Botswana, Mr Lutchmun, said his appointment provided an opportunity for the two nations to further strengthen their cooperation in sectors such as health, which was one of Botswana’s development priorities.

Botswana and Mauritius, Mr Lutchmun said, had similarities and shared ‘excellent’ relations.

The two countries,  he said enjoyed good democracy and anti-corruption, ‘which in fact are leading both countries ahead in economic platform and different fields.’

“So, we are progressing well. We have to see what both countries have so far, because Mauritius has certain sectors where it is top in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as having conducive and friendly environment for doing business and we are top in the Mo Ibrahim Index,” he said.

“When you talk of tourism, it is well known that Mauritius is a paradise. So, all this can be shared, as we have also different sectors where we are working very hard on and are also top in Africa, like Information and Communication Technology, financial service sector, human resource development and counselling,” he added.

Botswana and Mauritius, he said enjoyed strong and mutual beneficial relations and a lot could still be done to enhance the relations, adding that Botswana had facilitated Mauritian private sector in precious stone licence, ‘because it is excellent in diamond mining and will help us have industries for diamond cutting and polishing.’

The two envoys will be based in Pretoria, South Africa. ENDS