25 Sep 2019

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso, has commended the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) for its positive impact.

Speaking during commemoration of ITEC day in Gaborone on September 24, Ms Tshireletso said the significance of ITEC programme had been reflected by the number of participants it continued to attract since its inception.

She said the ITEC programme, which was a flagship of the government of India, had benefitted more than 800 Batswana participants who all contributed to Botswana’s economy over the past five years.

The beneficiaries, she said, had all tapped from the knowledge and experience they gained in India.

“Botswana has benefited from training of government officials, deputation of experts from India as well as financing in various projects and the programme has also assisted us in the improvement of ours skills based within the public sector in a wide range of specialised areas such as public sector administration, banking, finance and ICT,” she said.

Ms Tshireletso indicated that the India-Botswana relationship was nurtured on a much broader platform that included the flow of foreign direct investment, increased trade, enhanced interaction of India and its diaspora in Botswana as well as cooperation in the field of information technology.

She said Botswana appreciated programmes such as ITEC, which were demand-driven, response-oriented and focused on addressing many needs of developing countries through innovative technological cooperation between India and partner nations.

The India High Commissioner, Dr Rajesh Ranjan, said the Botswana-India partnership was an important pillar of India’s foreign policy and approach of inter-state relations.

The main aspects of cooperation between the two countries, he said, was capacity building that focused on enhancing the local capacity and opportunities for Botswana talents and skills in a wide range of specialised areas such as public sector administration, banking, finance, entrepreneurship, women empowerment and ICT.

He said India was committed to sharing with Botswana its technologies, academic knowledge and other expertise to assist Botswana on its march to national development.

“Botswana is a country of growth and opportunities, with the young and fastest-growing youth and considerable natural resources and human capital at its disposal, the country is poised to be a significant growth factor in the SADC economy,” he said.

He highlighted that India’s partnership with Botswana was based on a model of cooperation which was responsive to the needs of Batswana hence it was demand-drive and free of conditions.

He, therefore, said the ITEC programme formed an important part of the two countries bilateral relations. Ends