04 Nov 2013

The President, Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama says Botswana continues to be ranked high.

He said in the latest IFC/World Bank Doing Business Index the country moved up 11 places and now ranked number 56 out of 189 countries.

President Khama said during the State-of-the-Nation Address today (November 4) that the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Doing Business and Global Competitiveness had been busy overseeing a number of initiatives which include introduction of e-Government legislation, such as the e-Communication and Transactions Bill, the Data Protection Bill and the e-Evidence Bill.

Other initiatives were the establishment of a Regulatory Impact Assessment system and commencement of routine inspections by Local Authorities three months prior to expiry of trading licenses.

The president also said establishing an online system for name search and registration, Introduction of an integrated taxpayer management system and introduction of e-filing and e-payment system were other initiatives.

Cabinet sub-committee would also look into implementation of the Point Based System to attract and retain skilled expatriates, while ensuring local skills transfer.

He said the other initiative was the amendment of the Town and Country Planning Act to facilitate the decentralisation of the Planning Board’s functions to councils so as to reduce delays in the approval of planning and building permits.

Botswana had also improved, moving up five places in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Report.  However, poor work ethic in the national labour force has once again been identified as the most problematic factor for doing business in the country.

“To address this deficiency, which is applicable to both our public and private sectors, the Botswana National Productivity Centre has developed a strategy that combines training initiatives with public education that recognises that good work ethics are not alien to us,” the President said.  

He said good work ethics could not exist where employees and employers were at loggerheads, adding that government continued to play its role of promoting conducive labour relations. President Khama said the Trade Disputes Act was being reviewed in order to establish a more efficient dispute resolution system.

He said some trade unions were contravening the provisions of the Trade Unions and Employers’ Organisations Act by failing to submit their annual returns.

“This matter is being closely monitored to ensure that workers’ funds are not being misused,” he said. ENDS