10 Dec 2017

Ambassador of Brazil to Botswana, Mr Ricardo Diniz says trade between Brazil and Botswana has doubled in the past decade though there is still room for improvement.

Speaking at the 10^th anniversary of the establishment Brazilian Embassy in Botswana recently, Mr Diniz said even though trade between the two countries still remained very low volume, he expressed belief that certainly there was room for further expansion in future. 

Reflecting back to 2007 when the resident embassy was established, he said he could see that full potential of Brazil-Botswana bilateral relations remained unfulfilled, noting that there was a lot more that could be done to bring the two countries even closer in all areas of interchange.

He said the entry into force last year of the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) and MERCOSUR (which is a customs union between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) was a significant achievement. 

The agreement, which provides for preferential margins in approximately 1 050 tariff lines, will increase trade, facilitate the integration of production chains and improve the lives of workers and consumers of both regions.

Mr Diniz said in the framework agreement, Brazilian exports to Botswana would be much more competitive.

“Apart from trade, I also believe that it is important to bring our business communities closer together to explore investment opportunities. As one of the fastest-growing and more stable economies in Africa, Botswana is a partner that Brazil seeks to priorities.  As for specific areas of interest, I should mention the agribusiness sector, in which Brazil has a recognised expertise, and which is considered to be one of the pillars of the economic diversification strategy adopted by the Botswana government,”  he said.

Meanwhile, he said the recent visit by Brazilian foreign affairs minister, Mr Aloysio Ferreira to Botswana was to explore ways of taking the bilateral relationship to the next level. 

During the visit, he said Brazil and Botswana signed a Memorandum of Understanding on political consultation. 

Prior to that, he said Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale headed a mission to Brazil in June to familiarise himself with some of Brazil’s government policies on food security; such as family agriculture projects and school feeding programmes, which could eventually be replicated in Botswana.

“He also took an interest in the area of digital TV, specifically the ongoing transition, in most metropolitan areas of Brazil from analogue to purely digital broadcasts,” he said. 

Furthermore, he said Minister of Agriculture Development and Food Security, Mr Patrick Ralotsia went to Brazil in September, where he met with his counterpart and visited the Expointer, which is the largest agribusiness trade show in Latin America.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation, Mr Gaeimelwe Goitsemang said more areas on cooperation needed to be exploited noting that since Botswana also established resident embassy in Brazil in 2009, the mission would surely enhance the bilateral relation between the two countries.

Mr Goitsemang noted that apart from shared perspective on multilateral issues, technical cooperation had always been a critical component their relationship.  

Also, he noted that over the past few years, Brazil and Botswana had signed agreements in the fields of sports development, HIV/AIDS prevention, agricultural research, social development, as well as cultural and educational cooperation.

Currently, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency is conducting a pilot project in the Kweneng North region for the establishment of a cooperative of rural producers. 

In the area of science and technology, the Botswana government adopted the Japanese-Brazilian digital television system, which certainly opens up new avenues for cooperation between the two countries in 2013. ENDS