02 Sep 2020

Government is in the process of rationalising the state-owned enterprises to reduce duplication of roles, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Ms Peggy Serame has said. 

Responding to a debate on the motion to approve NDP 11 Mid-term Review on the thematic chapters of economy and employment, she said Parliament would be updated on the exercise in due course. 

She admitted that government spent huge sums of money on such enterprises, hence some would be merged. 

Ms Serame appreciated legislators cross cutting concerns on the thematic working group of employment and economy. 

Furthermore, she said criteria used for the Economic and Transformation Recovery Plan (ETRP) for projects would be funded during the remaining part of the NDP 11. 

She emphasised that ETRP required that difficult choices and sacrifices be made as well as learning new things as it required that projects to be considered should be able to generate more jobs, contribute to export-led economy and contribute to Citizen Economic Empowerment, among others. 

With regards to Agriculture, Ms Serame said the ministry of agriculture acknowledged the  importance for self-sufficiency in food production and that it was looking at capitalising more on commodities that the country had comparative advantage on. 

“The intention is to see which commodities we have potential to do well in, so that we increase production in those,” she stated. 

She also said MPs should appreciate that some projects should be carried out, especially those that affect people’s lives directly, even if they had no economic returns. 

Furthermore, Ms Serame said the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security was in the process of developing a Drought Management Strategy as a response to challenges of drought. 

Ms Serame acknowledged cross cutting problems of poor workmanship and maintenance of public infrastructure across ministries. 

Regarding education, she said ICT integration in schools would be prioritised to keep up with emerging trends in learning and that attention would also be put on students with special needs in learning, as well as reducing class sizes. 

Ms Serame further said government acknowledged the gaps in skills and development and that the Decent Work Programme was making progress, adding that all relevant stakeholders were engaged. 

Ms Serame also said plans to review the Liquor Act were on cards and that she was aware of the brunt bore by Batswana who earned a living through alcohol. Ends