20 Feb 2020

Specially Elected Member of Parliament, Ms Peggy Serame says government needs to interrogate some of the trade agreements in place.

Responding to the budget speech in Parliament this week, Ms Serame, who is also Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, said the budget spoke to the trade agreements that were in place, and said the time was now to look into existing trade agreements that Botswana had and establish their relevancy.

She implored Members of Parliament to engage and give feedback on the issue.

Ms Serame said issues of export led growth were critical as there were such issues as alternative trade routes and transport logistics.

She said government might have to make serious decisions regarding such issues.

Ms Serame also said the number of state owned enterprises (SOEs) was not sustainable.

Given the 12 SOEs in her ministry, Ms Serame said they had already engaged and agreed that 12 was not sustainable, and had also proposed on how to rationalise.

On the citizen economic empowerment law, Ms Serame said they had already engaged with various stakeholders for input on what should go into the law.

Commenting on the creative strategy, Ms Serame noted that together with the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, they would be working on the strategy and that by April it would be in place.

She said the strategy would help the country to ensure that the creative sector grew.

She said the sector could create many jobs, especially for the youth, adding that the sector had contributed significantly to the GDP of countries that had promoted the sector.

As Botswana gears up to host the Africa Forbes Under 30 Summit from April in Gaborone and Kasane, Ms Serame said they had already engaged stakeholders as to what needed to be done.

She said she would be engaging with the media on what the summit entailed, opportunities available for Batswana and what it meant for Batswana to host the summit.

She said if Botswana hosted the event well, Forbes would not hesitate to come back.  

Ms Serame said the summit, with 600 young participants, would allow Botswana to showcase her food, culture and fashion with business opportunities as well.

For her part, Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington North, Ms Annah Mokgethi said sustainable development must respond to mainstreaming gender dimensions. She said gender equality was the absence of social and economic discrimination in providing opportunities, access to resources, services and development of benefits based on one’s sex.

Ms Mokgethi, who is also Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, said it was important to promote gender equality, adding that when men and women were relatively equal, economies tended to grow faster.

She also said the poor moved out of poverty quickly, and that the well-being of women, men and children enhanced development efficiencies.

Ms Mokgethi also said to support the transformational agenda, there should be deliberate efforts by responsible sectors to mainstream gender such as in the labour sector, creative industry as well as in the mainstream economy and in the international trade sphere.

Member of Parliament for Gaborone South, Mr Meshack Mthimkhulu said the budget speech redressed the budgetary short falls of the past.

He said the four priorities to transformation outlined in the budget speech were clear indications and direction towards a new transformative thinking.

He said the economic outlook indicated an economy that was not only targeted towards value for money spending, but also targeted intention to promote local production of goods and services for export markets.

Mr Mthimkhulu said they would add to other efforts aimed at curbing unemployment.  

He said the budget was premised on the private sector driven economy that sought to deliver jobs to Batswana, and also cushion the adverse impacts of poverty in communities.ENDS