Speaking during the ministry's consultative forum here yesterday, Batshu said Botswana was battling to improve its rankings in global competitiveness.For the last three years, Botswana has experienced a back-to-back nosedive in its global rankings. According to the global competitive report, in 2008, Botswana was rated 56th out of 134 countries, dropped to 66th position in 2009, 76th in 2010 and a dismal 80th last year.Batshu said the ranking took into consideration a number of factors, among them work ethics. He added that government was seriously concerned that perceptions of poor work ethics against the country were persisting.
"This has given us reason to worry especially that these perceptions have been confirmed by local work ethic perception studies. What we need is a radical rethink of what amounts to a productive workforce," he said. The minister also stressed the need for citizens to commit to a willingness of understanding that productivity in the workplace is a condition of the mind.He said countries like Rwanda, Namibia and South Africa overtook Botswana in rankings, following benchmarking at which Botswana shared her success story. "We ought to know that to remain at the top we need to get some work done," he noted.
