BIH facilities on course - Swartz

The minister said this as he proposed a budget of over P420 million for his ministry for the 2012-2013 financial year. The combined budget proposal comprises P348 million for recurrent budget and P75 million for development budget.

The minister revealed that the design and construction of the buildings, laboratories and other tailor-made facilities for rental by the public and private sector has been delayed due to the legal challenges against the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), which is the assigned project manager for the construction of infrastructure for the hub. It is anticipated that upon the resolution of these issues, the design and construction of the planned facilities can resume in a phased manner, the minister said.

'I have recently appointed a full board of directors to oversee the operations of the BIH Company and its property subsidiary in line with our overall vision for the hub,' he said. The core functions of the company are facilities management, which relates to developing the Innovation Hub Park as a world-class physical environment, marketing and attracting local and international technology driven or knowledge intensive entities and registering them, as well as development of innovation clusters for the innovation park.

Swartz proposed that the largest share (P32 million) of the development budget go to the BIH to cover payments for their initiatives for the development of innovation and technology clusters that will eventually operate from the park.

The minister said that the Research, Science, Technology and Innovation policy, as well as its implementation plan are ready for presentation to Parliament. He said the policy would go a long way in enabling the country to realise the goal of transforming Botswana from a natural resource driven economy into a knowledge driven economy.