Govt to review national export strategy
Isaac Pinielo | Friday May 27, 2016 10:11
The pledge was made by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Peggy Serame at the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) workshop in Gaborone this week.
She pointed out that the ministry is working toward reviewing the National Export Strategy whose life span comes to an end this year.
“We will work with all relevant institutions to develop products as well as sectoral value chains that have a comparative advantage in the EU market,” said Serame.
She said Botswana is favoured with such a young, vibrant and relatively more educated population, urging that this comparative advantage must be turned into meaningful opportunities toward diversifying the economy.
She added that it should also sustain Botswana industries as well as address the supply-side constraints, which are prevalent.
“We can do this by capitalising and utilising government programmes that are geared towards capacity building of enterprises such as the Industrial Development Policy (IDP), national export strategy and the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD),” said Serame.
She said the country can further utilise enterprise competitive programmes such as the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Export Development Programme (EDP) and the Cooperative Transformation Strategy. Earlier reports had indicated that Botswana, as a small landlocked economy with a narrow product and export base, has limited competitive advantages compared to the best in the world. It is against this backdrop that the ministry is seeking to develop global competitiveness strategies that will assist to expand Botswana’s current levels of exports as well as putting new ones in global markets. The main intent of the strategy, according to the ministry, is to make the export sector a major engine of growth by maximising its growth and its contribution to overall economic growth as well as diversifying the export base.
“The scope of the comprehensive EPA between SADC EPA group and the EU supports the long-term vision of economic growth and diversification for Botswana, as well as for the SADC region, in particular, regional integration,” said the PS. The EPA also aims to promote regional integration, economic cooperation and good governance to establish and implement an effective, predictable and transparent regional regulatory framework.
Serame further said the agreement will promote the gradual integration of the SADC EPA states into the world economy in conformity with their political choices and development priorities. It will also strengthen the existing relations between the EU and SADC EPA group on the basis of solidarity and mutual interest.
The agreement also stands to embrace the objectives of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan and specifically the industrial pillar, where member states envisage transformation of the region through value chains and value addition.