21 Oct 2018

The World Investment Forum currently underway in Geneva has received commendation from the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Botswana to the UN office in Geneva Dr Athalia Molokomme.

Speaking in an interview ahead of the week-long high level conference, Dr Molokomme said the multi stakeholder gathering would offer Botswana a suitable moment to scout for opportunities in the global investment space.

“When it was announced it became apparent that this was a fantastic opportunity not only for our president to engage with CEOs of multilateral companies, but also provide a platform for our minister to interact at this high level forum.

Our ministers of international affairs and cooperation, investment trade and industry as well as health and wellness will get the chance to interact. Switzerland is a big pharmaceutical country and there are many huge pharmaceutical companies here. We have the WHO headquartered here. All these issues are going to contribute to ensuring that Botswana economic development is realised,” she said.

Dr Molokomme said Botswana had always had a special place in the UN as it was in good standing and its development indices were promising, so it was important to be at the global gathering to tell her story.

“Switzerland is an interesting country in many respects, there are many opportunities here, it is an extremely wealthy country, it is a successful economy and very stable.

The Swedes are very well respected internationally, they are good at branding themselves, and this is something that we could learn from them because if you look at their history they started off as an alpine passage between bigger countries.

They became such good traders and facilitators and built their economy out of it,” she added that President Dr Masisi was set to meet with the Swiss business community in a meeting organised by the Geneva Chamber of Commerce to share notes with Botswana.

Dr Molokomme said the Global Leaders Investment summit and ministerial round-table meetings would afford Botswana an opportunity to foster partnerships and see the potential that investment had to offer.

“Foreign Direct Investment has to make the world a better place, to make economies more prosperous.

Botswana is a middle income economy that aspires to move to the high level.

So the presence of President Masisi is a significant event that will ensure that Botswana will be counted among those countries that have told their story in Geneva at this high level forum,” she said.

Dr Molokomme said as an ambassador her office did not only advance the political diplomacy, but also economic diplomacy of Botswana to the whole world.

Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the biennial forum remains the premier venue to forge partnerships between investment and development partners.

The previous fora were held in Ghana in 2008, China 2010, Qatar 2012 Switzerland 2014 and in 2016 it was hosted by Kenya.

Organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development the forum was set up to fill the investment institutional gap in the international economic governance architecture.

Since inception, it has served as the leading forum to leverage investment policy for sustainable development. ENDS