04 Sep 2023

The Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane is expected to officiate at this year’s Vision 2036 month commemoration, which will be held  in Charleshill on September 14.

Addressing a press conference Friday, the National Planning Commission (NPC) commissioner general, Mr Christopher Molomo said the commemoration was meant to reaffirm the nation’s commitment to achieving the nation’s aspiration of prosperity for all and to reflect on progress made towards attainment of Vision 2036.

The commemoration month theme: Tebelopele ya 2036: A re Chencheng, Le Wena Tsaya Karolo, Mr Molomo said, ‘challenges the nation to assume a shift in mindset, identify new approaches and take part in the effort to attain Vision 2036 goals’.

This main event, he said would feature various speakers presenting on the theme, as well as exhibitors showcasing their products and services in line with the four pillars that would take the country to the desired future.

The four pillars are; Sustainable Economic Development, Human and Social Development, Sustainable Environment and Governance, Peace and Security.

Furthermore, Mr Molomo explained that ‘the theme is aligned to priority number five of the Reset Agenda on Mindset change, which emphasises the importance of changing mindset in order to attain high income status and escape the middle income trap.”

Mr Molomo said objectives of the commemoration month were to raise awareness on Vision 2036 and its importance in national development planning, reflect on achievements, challenges and opportunities towards implementation of Vision 2036, promote stakeholder engagement and collaboration towards achieving Vision 2036 and promote mindset change towards implementation of Vision 2036.

Other planned activities for this year’s commemoration month, Mr Molomo said included Vision 2036 public lecture which would be held in Palapye at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) on Thursday.

The Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng is expected to officiate at the lecture, as part of a build-up to the main event in Charleshill, which would be held under the theme: The Case of BIUST: Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP) - Contribution towards innovation and digital transformation.

Mr Molomo said BIUST was chosen to host the lecture taking into account its role in innovation and digital transformation, which were key policy priorities in the TNDP.

Therefore, he added that the theme challenged the university to upscale and fast-track its programmes to contribute to the attainment of Vision 2036.

The National Planning Commission was established through the public sector rationalisation exercise of 2022 by merging the functions of the National Strategy Office, Government Implementation Coordination Office, Vision 2036 Coordinating Agency and Planning Unit from the then Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

The commission, Mr Molomo said was also established as part of government’s reforms to bring about the much-needed structural transformation to address problems of unemployment, poverty and inequality by dealing with fragmentation and duplication among government institutions to improve efficiency.

“The rationalisation was done to, among others, bring coherent data management systems, strengthen management and decision making support systems, coordinate national performance and implementation of policies, projects and programmes, address duplicative and conflicting policies, bring synergies and standardisation to national delivery and intensify monitoring and evaluation for improved service delivery,” he explained.

He outlined NPC’s key functions as to; coordinate developments of the country’s long term vision and strategy, develop the country’s National Development Plans and coordinate their implementation and policies to ensure synergy effectiveness and provide advocacy and communication for the national vision and its strategic interventions. ENDS