20 Feb 2022

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi says as a developing economy, Botswana needs all the support it can get from developed countries in the form of human capital development, trade cooperation, exchange of knowledge as well as research and development collaboration. 

   The President said this during a meeting with the Minister President of the Government of Flanders region in Belgium,  Mr. Jam Jambon recently. 

 President Masisi expressed Botswana’s desire to cooperate with the Flanders region in areas of innovation which he said was demonstrated by the inclusion of University of Botswana (UB), Botswana University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (BUAN) and Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) vice chancellors in his delegation during last year’s visit. 

The trio identified three main opportunities for collaboration with the University of Leuven in the space of business development and incubation, post graduate education and training and research and collaboration. 

KU Leuven is a leading institution for research and education in Europe and Botswana considers it a model in many areas such as establishment of tech ecosystems, innovation hubs, research product commercialisation, intellectual property protection and incorporating entrepreneurship skills in the education curriculum. 

All these areas were in line with the President’s roadmap, Dr Masisi said.

They also identified opportunities with the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, an organization working on the agriculture sustainability, fisheries and agri- food sector. 

In addition, the institution provides great opportunities for BIUST  such as  collaborations on drone technology in precision agriculture, food processing innovation technologies and food quality assurance. 

The Flanders region institutions have expressed a desire to collaborate with the three universities to offer them technical assistance and expertise in the areas mentioned. They are expected to sign MOUs sometime soon. 

President Masisi also appealed to Minister President Jambon to support Botswana’s economy through buying its beef as well as encouraging Flanders big businesses to consider Botswana as their investment destination. 

He said Botswana and Flanders should also explore areas of cooperation in the diamond space as they both produce and trade in diamonds. 

Another item on the two leader’s agenda was the hosting of the Kimberly Process secretariat.

President Masisi is using every opportunity at the summit to meet EU leaders canvassing for hosting of the secretariat by Botswana. 

His argument is that being the biggest producer of diamonds by value, boasting an admirable record of ethical mining of the gem and pursuing a policy of diamonds for development,  it was befitting for Botswana to host the secretariat. 

Austria and China are Botswana’s competitors in the Kimberly  Process secretariat bid.

For his part, Minister President Jambom commended Botswana’s for its good governance, democracy and adherence to the rule of law record which he said created a favourable environment for the two countries to work together. 

He also informed President Masisi that his government had taken keen interest in the LEGABIBO case, the Court of Appeal judgment, government’s acceptance of the verdict and President Masisi’s public commitment to ensure its implementation.

Mr Jambom described government’s position as a step in the right direction that would strengthen Botswana’s standing on human rights issues. 

In response, President Masisi reiterated his government’s commitment to respect the judgment as well as to protect the rights of people in same sex relationships. 

He said his government decided to appeal the High Court judgment so that the matter may be decided by the highest court in the land thus putting it to finality. 

Now that the Court of Appeal had made a decision, everyone was compelled to respect its decision and the matter must be put to rest, the President said. 

He however acknowledged the controversy surrounding the issue adding that Botswana was a very conservative society and it would take time for many people to accept people in same sex relationships.

Dr Masisi said it was government’s responsibility to help society accept change hence his full commitment to protecting the rights of same sex couples. ends