19 Nov 2017

Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson- Moitoi has applauded the 4th Bi-National Commission (BNC) between Botswana and South Africa for coming up with positive reforms geared towards improving both countries citizenry’s livelihoods.
Officiating at the Botswana, South Africa Bi-National Commission meeting, Dr Venson-Moitoi said the establishment of BNC in 2012 had by far created a solid foundation on which the two countries should leverage on in advancing their bilateral cooperation in a robust and synchronised manner.

She noted that it was thus pleasing that the BNC has to date proved to be a useful mechanism, not only in strengthening fruitful relations between the two countries, but also in resolving some of the critical challenges experienced by those countries.As neighbouring countries, she said, face similar socio-economic challenges, some of which require joint strategies in order to be effectively addressed.
She noted with satisfaction that progress had been made in deepening cooperation in a number of areas including agriculture, energy, health, defence, justice and security, education, culture and tourism.

Dr Venson-Moitoi highlighted that the two countries’ strategic partnership remaind strong as epitomised by their strong commitment in contributing towards the advancement of the regional and continental development agenda. She added that it was therefore not surprising that Botswana and South Africa continued to have common positions and similar approaches to the multifaceted challenges currently confronting humankind at the global level.

 The positive achievements, she said, demonstrated that there were regular follow-ups by the respective sectors, hence she commended officials for closely following up on the commitments made by the BNC.
However, she stated that there were certain bottlenecks that negatively impacted the smooth cooperation and hindered the full attainment of the ultimate goal of improving the lives of the two countries’ communities and securing a better future for generations to come.

Dr Venson-Moitoi commended the sterling leadership of South African President, Mr Jacob Zuma in his capacity as the current chairperson of SADC, saying his able leadership could not have come at the right time since SADC was stepping up efforts to deal with the political and security challenges that currently afflicted the region.
 She said the sub-region remained steadfast in pursuit of common position regarding some of the critical issues under discussion at continental level, which included among others the envisaged institutional reforms of the African Union. ENDS