24 Jul 2018

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Unity Dow says the economic relations between Botswana and China must be at the forefront of any interactions between the two countries.

She was briefing a delegation from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) who paid a courtesy call on her yesterday (July 24).

Dr Dow said the partnerships forged between Botswana and China should help in further advancing the economic relations of the two countries.

“We were in China two weeks ago and met with the Vice President and my counterpart there. We agreed as two governments wanting to work together that we had to strengthen our relations based on mutual respect and mutual trust. We firmly believe that the growth of our respective economies depend on that,” she said.

Dr Dow said trade, commerce, cooperation on education, health and defence and various sectors of the economy were likely to reach greater heights and benefit the two countries.

“The important part in the broadening of this relations is the issues around VISAs. We will be engaged in the facilitation of official or diplomatic travel by removing the VISA requirements for those passport holders. We will also be facilitating travel by regular travellers as tourism is important to us. Our slogan is Our Botswana Your Destination and we want to make Botswana the world’s destination.

For his part, chairperson of CCPIT Mr Jiang Zengwei thanked the government of Botswana on paving easy access to strengthening the ties between the two countries.

He said he was glad to hear that Botswana would provide facilitation for diplomatic travels.

He said in sectors such as mining, agriculture and tourism, he would consult with relevant authorities in China. He said the interactions provided good opportunities to explore ways of offering citizens of the two countries great opportunities.

China’s ambassador to Botswana Dr Zhao Yanbo said the meeting was only a launching pad for positive things to come.

“It is a good beginning for two sides committed to cooperating in trade and investment. It is an engine for economic growth for Botswana and I hope relevant stakeholders will engage for the promotion of international trade and investment,” he said.

In his contribution, Mr Ren Shuhui of China Huadian Corporation from power generation company said they were interested in exploring more about Botswana power generation as well as in investing in the country.

He said they were impressed by the efforts made towards Botswana solar energy project to which they were introduced. ENDS