BNPC, NSO collaboratefor timely delivery

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Monday October 25, 2010 00:00

 

A newly signed Memorandum of Understanding will enable the two parties to work on a mechanism for timely and on budget delivery of government projects. The areas of collaboration agreed upon are economic diversification and sustainability, knowledge and information sharing, capacity building, research, consultancy, information and resource centre services and communication on productivity.

The chairperson of the BNPC board, Festinah Bakwena, said the collaboration between NSO and BNPC is critical to efficiency in service delivery that will lead to consumer satisfaction. 'This relationship will enable the BNPC to strengthen its capacity to intervene in government projects as it is now partnering with the implementing office, the NSO,' she said.

The Global Competitiveness Report launched last August indicated that at 76, Botswana has gone 10 places down mainly because of the country's poor work ethic and its inadequately educated workforce. Bakwena said the delivery agenda of this partnership is to address these challenges that hinder competitiveness.

For his part, the Acting Executive Director of BNPC, Parmod Chandna, hailed the partnership as crucial because NSO is an office that gives direction to the national development process and therefore to the efforts of all stakeholders to maximise development initiatives.

'The link between BNPC and NSO will greatly assist in enhancing our interaction and relationship with stakeholders,' he said.

He added that such agreements build on to similar partnerships such as the one between BNPC and Botswana Bureau of Standards that was signed in July to ensure that goods and services are of international standard and fit for international markets.