BOCCIM conference to focus on diversification

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Friday September 24, 2010 00:00

BOCCIM Public Relations Officer (PRO), Tebogo Oletile, says preparations for the conference are going according to plan.

The conference is held every two years and is a highly respected and appreciated forum for private-public dialogue.

The theme for this year's conference is Deepening Diversification Through Private Sector Leadership.

BOCCIM says the rationale behind the conference is to broaden the economic base in anticipation of a decline in diamond production from 2010 onwards. 

The NBC will explore issues of deepening diversification, opportunities for the private sector, the policy environment, education and skills, the business climate and public investment and building the private sector. 

The conference targets the private and public sectors, NGOs, international affiliates and other partners. It will draw on a mixture of local experience and international expertise.

In a press statement, BOCCIM says as before, the conference will aim to draw up a set of recommendations for the public and private sectors that will help to drive and enable the country to successfully meet the diversification challenge.

Topics to be discussed are Botswana's diversification experience, an overview of the issues and challenges, Botswana's excellence - a strategy from economic diversification and sustainable growth, macroeconomics, the new industrial policy, the World Bank' s 'doing business' rankings, and how reformers improve their position.

President Ian Khama will perform the official opening while the keynote speaker will be prominent South African businessman, Bobby Godsell.  Godsell is the chairperson of Business Leadership South Africa, which represents the 70 largest public and private companies in that country. In April, South African President Jacob Zuma appointed him to the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Godsell has a unique reputation as a South African businessman who championed workers' rights while simultaneously creating one of the most successful gold mining companies in the world, AngloGold Ashanti.

He has worked extensively on issues associated with economic development in South Africa, building upon the country's natural resource base. With his successful business career and understanding of the regional economy, he is well placed to share insights that will help the private sector lead Botswana's economic diversification.

BOCCIM says in the past, the NBC has developed resolutions that have reformed policies and introduced innovative solutions to critical business issues. BOCCIM considers the conference to be an indispensable event that not only adds value to the private sector but even to the country's development.

Resolutions made at the NBC have proven successful. BOCCIM says the private sector has a role to play in rebuilding and strengthening areas of the economy that have potential but have not prospered according to expectations.

In 2008, NBC came up with a number of resolutions, including. *To deepen capital markets to facilitate investment and establish Botswana as a key source of capital for foreign companies looking to invest in Africa.

*To develop an industrial policy that makes a clear distinction between SMMEs on one side and large corporates on the other and encourage the transformation of SMMEs into large firms.

*To ensure that the necessary supporting legislation like data protection is in place to support the development of services exports.

*To augment and improve support services to create an enabling environment for business in general and for IFSC companies and exporters of services in particular, with specific emphasis on telecommunications services, human capital and costs of doing business.

*To consider establishing a sovereign wealth fund which would invest in a wide range of assets to generate future sources of income.