Remarks by H.H the Vice President,Lt.Gen.Mompati S.Merafhe, Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on the Economy and Employment

source: Republic of Botswana (6/2/10) TAUTONA TIMES no 1 of 2010
The Electronic Press Circular of the Office of the President
"Democracy, Development, Dignity, Discipline and Delivery"


B1) 27/1/10: REMARKS BY HIS HONOUR THE VICE PRESIDENT, LT. GEN. MOMPATI S. MERAFHE, MP CHAIRMAN OF THE CABINET COMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT At THE 16th MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE

Honourable Ministers, Senior Government Officials, Ladies and Gentlemen

1. I welcome you all to the sixteenth (16th) meeting of the Cabinet Committee on the Economy and Employment. I trust that you come back refreshed from the holiday season, and I take this opportunity to wish you a successful and productive 2010.

2. As I remarked in our last meeting of November 2009, I am generally satisfied with progress made so far in implementation of hub activities. Specifically, I have to note the outstanding achievements made by the Innovation Hub. They have indeed exerted the required effort in dealing with the implementation bottlenecks they encountered.

3. Financing of hub activities continues to be a challenge due to limited resources at the disposal of government. As I have stated in the past, Ministries must ensure provision of essential resources to the hubs without any delay. In addition, Hub Coordinators should also explore alternative financing options, including that of the private sector.

4. The Innovation Hub has been a very good example in this regard. They have explored alternative financing options from the private sector for their projects.

5. The involvement of the private sector in the implementation of hubs activities is crucial and I urge the hubs to interact regularly with the private sector and other development partners.

6. A general meeting to brief the private sector on implementation of hub activities is being scheduled for February 2010 by GICO. Thereafter, individual hubs will convene bilateral meetings with their respective sectors to come up with concrete plans on the involvement of the sectors in the implementation of hub activities.

7. There are generally signs of recovery from the economic crisis experienced by the global economy. However, to avoid any lapse in our achievements so far, Ministries should continue implementing measures that were put in place to counter the impact of the global recession on the economy and the strategic repositioning of Botswana.

8. Ministries are only required to report on recent developments, bottlenecks and interventions that are required to address whatever challenges they face.

9. In concluding my remarks, let me urge members to be open-minded and proactive as we discuss Ministries' progress reports and come up with suggestions to enhance economic recovery and employment creation. I thank you for your kind attention and we will now proceed with our Agenda for today.