Govt undertakes study on transport sector competitiveness
Pauline Dikuelo | Friday June 6, 2014 16:05
This was revealed by the Minister of Trade and Industry Dorcas Makgato-Malesu at the official launch of Botswana Truckers Association (BOTRA) on Tuesday. She said the objective of the study is to assess the competitiveness of the transport and logistics sector both as a potential services export sector and as a critical enabler for other sectors in the economy.
Makgato-Malesu said the study would provide input on the potential for the sector, the areas where investments may be targeted and the policies that must be adopted and implemented to support the development of the sector. This will naturally look at cross border trade and related issues.
“As government and my ministry in particular is committed to engaging with industry groups such as your organisation to create an environment that fosters development and growth of the industry. We have identified and recommended for value chain assessment, given its potential as an important enabler to other sectors,” she said.
Transport and logistics industry is regarded as one of the critical drivers of the economy as it is an intersection of activities of trading and industry.
“Transport is the link between producers in different industries and the distributors in the whole value chain to the end user. The value chain moves in the outward direction from the primary producers through to the distributors, wholesalers and retailers,” added the minister. Makgato-Malesu urged entrepreneurs to take advantage of the geographic location that Botswana is situated in as she stated that it is a natural advantage to many industries including the transport sector. She observed that BOTRA would take a lead in the improvement and growth of the industry.
But there were still challenges, which include the anti-competitive behaviour in pricing amongst transport operators, influx of foreign truckers into an already squeezed market, non- harmonised dimensions in trucks which are not aligned to SADC as well as weak linkages with other sectors.
In fact, some local transport and logistics companies bemoaned negligence and lack of cooperation at the border posts by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) when clearing. They complain that the delay interfers with their business.