Gaolathe was addressing the general public, who included graduands, parents, and stakeholders, during the 10th year Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) graduation ceremony. When addressing multitudes of people who came to witness the ceremony, Gaolathe said that the BETP promises to be an emerging anchor for the transformation of our economy. “We are moving from diamonds and government as the centre to a vibrant ecosystem fired by the private sector, innovators, social entrepreneurs,” he added. Gaolathe said that they are building an economy with an export base, an economy that is diversified, digitally-led, and one that churns jobs for every citizen.
He highlighted that they are building an economy from diamond dependency to a vibrant private sector-led, innovative, export-based economy. “We will not rest until every citizen is employed, every citizen is empowered, and every citizen is fulfilled,” he continued. He further explained that the BETP process is a mirror of a government and a nation that has reimagined the future of this country and redefined its true North. “A high-income Botswana that is digitally-enabled, export-driven and economically diversified where every citizen is employed, empowered and fulfilled”. He also shared that BETP identifies nine priority sectors to power the growth of our country. Six of these sectors are economic, which include Agriculture, Tourism, Energy and Mining, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Infrastructure, and Digitalisation. Gaolathe stated that the other three are of a social dimension, underpinning their commitment to access to high-quality basic services and the empowerment of their people through healthcare, education, and social protection. He also said that Botswana has a tradition of excellence in policy conceptualisation and policy formulation, but we have consistently fallen short in execution. “BETP focuses and emphasises execution, more execution, extra execution, super execution, ultra execution. The time has come for our nation to build a culture of getting things done. We have started doing so with the Permandu economic lab methodology, and this is only the beginning,” he added.
