China is the promised land - Palai
Pini Bothoko | Thursday April 18, 2019 13:31
Being the second largest economy in the world, China’s access market is huge and open for opportunities says Botswana’s Ambassador to China, Mothusi Palai.
In line with his office mandate, which is: to sell Botswana to China, he says he has already made it easy for local entrepreneurs to be able to penetrate China’s market. That he has done by opening conversations with China and establishing links with entrepreneurs.
Palai called on local entrepreneurs to produce good quality goods in volumes to qualify to export to the Chinese market. He said China has a big market to consume various products from Botswana. For example, though the country is a big producer of agricultural products, it still imports some these products to feed its huge market.
“When you are business people in Botswana it will be a question of what are the imports to China, see how you can up your game, look at the volumes and quality of what you intend to export,” emphasised Palai.
He pointed out that it is up to Botswana at this stage to take advantage of the trade relations between the two countries because China is promoting the Africa/ China relationship in a big way. China understands that African countries need access to market.
Palai disclosed in June there will be an event known as China/Africa economic and trade expo dedicated to the African market. This presents an opportunity for business to showcase their products and also interact with prospective clients.
“This is the time to think of what Botswana could produce, what we can offer with enough quantities, proper value as the market remains open. Botswana can excel in Agriculture as well, even though we are still failing to feed ourselves. But I think this is the area where we can do wonders as long as we manufacture products of good quality. China still imports beef and pork, so as agriculture as a whole we should up our game,” he said.
The turn of events is possible because at the moment the bilateral relations between China and Botswana are quite positive ever since the visit of the President Mokgweetsi Masisi last year.
Palai said as long as the China’s political relations are good with Botswana everything will be smooth but if such relations turn sour that negatively affects how one interacts with the other party. This may results in collapse of trade relations. For example, the recent failed visit to Botswana by the Dalai Lama affected the relations between the two countries. He said then Botswana suffered economic repercussion at the hands of China.
“That time there were things that were cooking but when the saga started China stopped everything. There were to send some metrological equipments to the Department of Metrology, but that sort of stopped and we had to reboot the relationship. It’s only after the President’s visit there is a lot going on, there are lot of business contents and tourists going to Botswana.
This shows China values political relations, it is very crucial to them,” he said. Further, he said their business as Botswana diplomatic representatives in Beijing, is to keep looking for key potential investors because the country needs to boost its economy as well as to improve its technology.