Foreign Affairs ministry should shift focus-Gaolathe

Member of Parliament for Bonnington South Ndaba Gaolathe has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to find areas of specialty to better promote the country.

Gaolathe who is a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said this during the ministry’s appearance before the committee. According to him the lack of clear objectives by the ministry has resulted in them doing everything and not having a single successful area.
Gaolathe said since the ministry is at the forefront of promoting the country it should take heed of all the possible investment avenues such as tapping into the South Africa’s urgent power need. He pointed out that since countries like SA are looking at investing in power the ministry should use its relations and resources to swing their interest towards Botswana. “At times one should select one or two projects as a run away,” he noted.

For his part Permanent Secretary (PS) in the ministry Lapologang Lekowa told the committee that their aim will now be shifted towards economic diplomacy. He said however their low manpower hinders them to effectively fight for availability shrinking investment opportunities. The country has 22 embassies, which have limited human resources and small office spaces. “Our office is now focused on economic development, promoting investment and trade. “

Meanwhile Lekowa revealed that they have come up with a system that will allow easy access to visa. The ministry has broken the applications into 10 categories to avoid subjecting people to questions that do not talk of their visit. Committee member Ditlhapelo Keorapetse expressed concern that difficulty in getting approved permits or visas might be affecting foreign relations. “There is concern from the tourism industry and business regarding the issue,” he said adding that there is hearsay that some countries are concerned by the rejection of their people and want to do the same to Batswana. Lekowa however assured the committee that their visa strategy will come with solutions especially with issues of tourism visas.