22 Aug 2018

Botswana and China have identified education as an important area of cooperation, says Chinese ambassador to Botswana Dr Zhao Yanbo.

Speaking at the farewell reception for 41 students and 20 Botswana Defence Force personnel  who are beneficiaries of  Chinese government scholarship for the 2018/2019 academic year, Dr Zhao said the two countries had always regarded education as a platform to strengthen mutual understanding  since the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 1975.

Students, he said formed a driving force in the development of Botswana and a solid foundation for bilateral friendship.

He said China had been providing government scholarship to Botswana for the past 40 years and the annual number of beneficiaries had grown from five to 10 in the early days to around 70.

He highlighted that it was pleasing to note that China had become a favourite destination for young Batswana as over 600 students had completed their studies under the scholarship.

“ It is worth noting that there are 200 Botswana students currently studying in China, many of them self-sponsored,” he said.

 Further, Dr Zhao said China and Botswana had supported each other in preserving their sovereignty and territorial integrity through multilevel exchanges and communication including military.

The 20 BDF personnel scholarship, he said, was meant for capacity to safeguard regional and international peace and security.

Dr Zhao  therefore pleaded with the beneficiaries to not only be trainees upon arrival in China but also bear in mind that they were goodwill ambassadors who carried on China-Botswana friendship and further promote bilateral exchanges between the two countries who would contribute to Botswana’s social and economic development with the knowledge and skills learnt in China.

He said the two countries were now facing a historical opportunity to furthering their relationship and cooperation during the upcoming 2018 Beijing summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) slated for September.

For his part, Botswana Defence Force deputy commander, Major General Gotsileene Morake appreciated the support that the BDF continuesdto enjoy from China.

Maj. Gen Morake  applauded the two countries for the ever growing bilateral military relationship which he said was highlighted by frequent high level annual training programmes provided by the People’s Liberations Army of China.

He said the BDF was also looking at China for further cooperation in the fields of logistics supplies, construction of military camps and procurement of armaments.ENDS