Business Awards Billed For October
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday June 25, 2018 15:31
The awards are held in collaborative effort between Grant Thornton and Business Botswana and Botswana Investment Trade Centre (BITC).
Speaking at the launch recently, Business Botswana acting chief executive officer, Norman Moleele said the awards complemented his organisation’s objective of enhancing the competitiveness of the private sector to continue tapping into new markets and promoting sustainable development.
“The awards cultivate business and entrepreneurship in Botswana, encourage contribution and participation by the businesses in the country’s efforts to diversify the economy,” he said.
The award categories are; investor of the year manufacturing, investor of the year-services sector, investor of the year-expansion, and the exporter of the year.
The investor of the year award recognises and promotes best practices and the important role of the manufacturing sector as an engine of growth in the country’s economy with emphasis on creating sustainable jobs.
Investor of the year award-services sector recognises and promotes best practices and the important role of the services industries in promoting linkages in Botswana’s economy with particular emphasis on creating sustainable job creation, whilst investor award-expansions recognises companies that have expanded tremendously in the country.
The exporter of the year award recognises all export industry sectors from services to manufacturing and aims to encourage other Botswana enterprises to participate in regional and international markets while ensuring that their products and services can compete globally.
On his part, BITC acting chief executive officer, Keletsositse Olebile said that their partnership with Grant Thornton and Business Botswana is a strategic opportunity for BITC to leverage on this noble initiative, which seeks to acknowledge and recognise the role that private sector plays in the mandate of BITC.
“It’s a partnership to recognise and appreciate companies that continue to contribute to economic growth, diversification and employment creation in the country.
“It is a platform where government through the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry is able to demonstrate their commitment to supporting and enabling business growth,” he said.
According to Olebile, as BITC, they are driven to encourage companies to retain, expand and diversify their investment portfolio in the country. Further, he encouraged participation by Batswana in the national investment drive to communicate government’s commitment and support to investment initiatives in the country.
“Our role is to encourage domestic investment and expansion, promote locally manufactured goods to regional and international markets, contribute towards improvement of the investment climate through policy advocacy, increase citizen participation in the economy, thus creating sustainable job opportunities for Batswana,” he said.