Skilled manpower vital for economic growth � envoy
Isaac Pinielo | Thursday September 8, 2016 15:14
Speaking yesterday at the Business Botswana (BB) annual general meeting (AGM) in Gaborone, Zhuquiang said Botswana should emulate China, which he said is the biggest industrial country of the world and one of the biggest investors in Africa.
“China is always willing to help our cordial African partners, including Botswana of course, make progress in industrial fields. Especially, China is a developing country just like Botswana,” he said. Sharing thoughts of how to promote the development of skilled workers, the ambassador said Botswana could make more stimulation policies to make investment in the country easier.
As such, he noted, the foreign enterprise will bring more technology and make transformation happen in Botswana. In Botswana, Zhuqiang said Chinese enterprises have implemented some training programmes, which impart skills and knowledge on their local employees, which he said is encouraged by the Botswana government.
“The continuous study from practice is important too. The manufacturing business and building industry are making big progress in ensuring that there are more and more domestic skilled workers like boilermakers, riggers, electricians, bricklayers and carpenters,” he said.
The ambassador pointed out that in the 1970s, the Chinese government decided to reform and introduce openness, adding that it enforced many policies to encourage foreign companies to build factories in China.
He explained that when foreigners hired domestic workers, who were not skilled enough at that time, Chinese government would give them tax breaks, and give foreign workers and engineers more facilitation on visa policy.
“As a result, after years, the workers hired by foreign companies became well-trained, and that made China to have the biggest group of skilled workers in the world,” said Zhuqiang.
Citing as an example, the ambassador said the skill and technology training programme launched by Zheng Tai Group will bring more skills to other domestic workers so that they help in the improvement of the Botswana industry.
He urged the government to diversify its domestic industry, noting that China was once known for only manufacturing fabric goods but has since diversified its industry to develop the electronics industry, automobile industry and many more. He said this made China to have many skilled workers in many industry areas. He said Botswana could develop and extend its industry fields, not only at building industry, but also in other areas, that make workers more skilled and competitive.
“A team of well-trained work force is the guarantee to complete in any projects effectively and efficiently. With ensured quality, skilled workers play key roles in an advanced industry,” Zhuqiang said.