Gaborone — Botswana, a country known for its flat Kalahari Desert terrain, and Lesotho, the mountainous 'Kingdom in the Sky,' are eager for a symbiotic relationship that would permit use of their comparative advantage to complement each other.
The notion was affirmed by the heads of government of the two nations in Gaborone on June 19 during a press briefing that concluded the inaugural Botswana-Lesotho Bi-National Commission (BNC).
President Advocate Duma Boko and Lesotho Prime Minister, Mr Samuel Matekane said enduring diplomatic relations anchored on shared history, cultural heritage, linguistic affinities will be translated to deepening cooperation.
They revealed that the BNC had identified key sectors, among them trade and investment, energy, water, agriculture and livestock development, tourism, sport, culture and creative industries, as important sectors for collaboration.
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"We have met, we have engaged, we have crafted and fashioned what we believe are solid deliverables for both countries. We must move from talk to action and that is the most critical stage. It will be turned more difficult by the fact that government by its very nature is a machinery, an apparatus comprising several institutions and agencies," President Boko said.
He lauded senior government officials from both states who toiled to bring the BNC discussions to a fruitful conclusion as well as the private sector who engaged in the Botswana-Lesotho Business Forum for their contribution to the success of the bilateral event.
"The officials dealt with complex and intricate issues, simplified and captured them in meticulous detail, and they are the reason our work has been swift and as efficient as it has been. The private sector has also been active, they have taken the lead and participated actively, and they are now ready to implement critical outcomes of this BNC," President Boko said.
He added that there was a need to act fast in ensuring noticeable results that could benefit the two nations and avoid being on a 'treadmill to nowhere, in the words of Maya Angelou, 'going nowhere fast.'
"We need now to act, translate all these desires into concrete deliverables within the temporal boundaries and horizons that we have set ourselves, and I am happy that we have set some reasonable time frame for implementation.
We need to engage in a radical simplification of procedures, make it easier for our people to access services that our governments must render to them," President Boko said. Prime Minister Matekane said the BNC had laid a solid foundation for a results-oriented partnership between the two states to pursue common developmental aspirations.
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"It is therefore gratifying that this Commission has yielded significant and actionable outcomes across a wide spectrum of sectors. Among the key achievements of these sessions include strengthening trade and investment; economic infrastructure including a commitment to accelerate the Lesotho-South Africa-Botswana Water Transfer project," Mr Matekane said.
BOPA
