Saturday, June 19, 2010

Special Focus on the Hon. Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Admistrations Working Visits to China and Japan

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



D. SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE HON. MINISTER FOR PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC ADMISTRATIONS WORKING VISITS TO CHINA AND JAPAN

>From 25/5/10 to 3/6/10 the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration the Hon. Lesego Motsumi was in China and Japan seeking partnership and investment, more especially in media and related technologies. While in china she also attended the Asia Media Summit. Press Statements from her tour are reproduced below.

I. MINISTER MOTSUMI IN CHINA

D1) 23/5/10: Minister Motsumi to attend Asia Media Summit, travel to China & Japan

(Gaborone) The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Hon. Lesego Motsumi, will today depart for Beijing, the People's Republic of China, where she has been invited to attend and represent Botswana at the Asia Media Summit. While in Beijing the Minister is also expected to also explore potential partnerships with her Chinese counterparts, consistent with existing Sino-Botswana cooperation and the FOCAC (Forum of China Africa Cooperation) Process.

>From China Minister Motsumi will also be travelling to Japan for an official visit at the invitation of the Japanese Government. While there the Minister is further expected to explore ways of widening and deepening partnership between Botswana and Japan in the context of existing bilateral cooperation and the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) Process.

The Minister is expected to return to Botswana on 4/6/10.

The Minister is being accompanied by the Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Ms. Ticky Pule, and the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Media in the Office of the President, Dr. Jeff Ramsay.

D2) 28/5/10: Minister Motsumi explores Chinese partnership and investment.

(Beijing) - The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Hon. Lesego Motsumi, held a series of high level meetings in Beijing this week with Government leaders and top executives, in order to explore avenues of potential China-Botswana partnership through technical assistance and investment in the field of information and communications.

On Thursday she met with the Chinese Minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), H.E. Mr. Wang Chen, who assured her of his Government's mutual interest in assisting Botswana in building up its communications capacity in the spirit of South-South cooperation.

The State Council is the administrative nexus of the Chinese government, with the SCIO serving as its key "working organ" for media outreach. The SCIO is further responsible for promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Forum of China Africa (FOCAC) process.

During the week, Minster Motsumi also met with the senior managements of Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television (CCTV) and the China Radio and TV Corporation for International Techno-Economic Cooperation (CRTV).

During her discussions with the Vice President and Acting President of Xinhua, Mr. Zhou Xisheng, it was confirmed that the news agency was eager to open a bureau in Gaborone and was also interested in the possibility of forming partnerships with Botswana news organizations in the areas of human resource development, information sharing and online publishing, as well as broadcast and print media.

Programme sharing and potential technical assistance were also on the agenda during the Minster's meetings with senior CCTV and CRTV executives.

Minister Motsumi was in Beijing at the invitation of the Chinese Minister for State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), H.E. Mr. Wang Taihua, who hosted her at this week's Asia Media Summit.

In her meetings, the Minister was joined by resident Ambassador Naomi Majinda, Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Ticky Pule and the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Media, Dr. Jeff Ramsay.

>From China the Minister will be going to Japan, where she will be holding further discussions with her Japanese Government counterparts and executives of NHK, the Japanese Public Broadcaster. While in Japan the Minister is further expected to address members of the Japanese Business Council on opportunities in Botswana.

D3) 25/5/10: Asia Media Summit Open in Beijing

(Beijing) - Global media stakeholders converged in Beijing on Tuesday (25/5/10) to network and discuss development strategies at the Asia Media Summit, which is organised on an annual basis by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD).

This year's gathering has attracted more than 800 delegates, including policy-makers, media professionals, scholars, and stakeholders of news and programming from the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Among the VIPs present at the opening session was Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Hon. Lesego Motsumi. Also participating from Botswana at the Summit are members of the National Broadcasting Board (NBB).

With the theme "Creativity, Credibility, Rights and Responsibilities," this year's gathering will focus on such issues as declining public trust in the media, the need to strike a balance between media ethics and freedom, achieving universal content access in the face of growing commercialisation, digital migration challenges, and copyright issues.

In his welcoming remarks the Head of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, H.E. Liu Yunshan, observed that the Summit's topics reflected growing concerns and shared challenges among international media stakeholders. He further expressed his hope that all countries would strengthen cooperation in news communication, information technology and business operations, and share resources on the basis of "equality, mutual benefit and mutual success."

Also speaking at the opening session, the AIBD President, Mr. Thoyyib Mohamed Waheed, expressed his hope that the gathering of media movers and shakers would offer new paradigms and insights in the fast-changing digital landscape to make digital broadcasting more responsive to developmental needs.

D4) 26/5/10 - Beijing Summit debates Media Ethics and Freedom

(Beijing) - What are the fine lines that separate legal, ethical and moral codes that ensure the achievement of the ideal of media freedom? And what administrative, corporate and community structure might be put in place to sustain a free and ethical media that serve to protect the moral integrity of media professionals and organisations from undue pressure by state, religious and/or commercial forces?

These were some of the big questions that exercised the minds of global media movers and shakers on the first day of the Asian Media Summit, which is being held this week for the first time in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

This year's Summit, which is organized on an annual basis by the Asian Institute of Broadcasting Development in major partnership with UNESCO, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Global Media Centre for Development, has attracted over 800 delegates from six continents.

Batswana participating in this year's Summit include the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Hon. Lesego Motsumi, and representatives from the National Broadcasting Board.(NBB).

In his presentation to the Summit, the President of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and former Secretary-General of the European Broadcasting Union, Dr. Jean-Bernard Munch, observed that universal principles of freedom of expression and information can be upheld in an environment that allows for effective co-regulation of the media industry on the basis of common codes of conduct, as well as self-regulation by individual media houses.

He noted that in Switzerland, mechanisms for co-regulation in broadcasting involve structures through which the Federal Minister responsible appoints an oversight body largely drawn from civil society.

Amidst calls for re-regulation of global media in the face of mounting evidence of a worldwide decline in public trust in news organizations, the concept of co-regulation found widespread acceptance among diverse Summit participants. As one participant noted regulatory mechanisms, along with guarantees of press freedom, should exist for the protection of the governed, not governments.

The Senior Editor of The Nation newspaper in Bangkok, Thailand, Mr. Kavi Chongkittavorn, however stressed the importance of grounding concerns about balance and objectivity in reporting in their situational context. In the light of recent events in his own country, he noted that the Thai journalists continue to be challenged in their reporting of domestic crisis situations, observing that human emotion as well as difficulties in accessing information understandably compromise editorial judgment.

Former head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Dr. Mehdi Tabeshian, spoke on the difficulties of reconciling freedom of expression with respect for deeply held cultural and religious values. He nonetheless argued against abandoning concepts of universalism and objectivity.

The of balancing religion and freedom of expression was also taken up by senior Pakistani journalist and noted human rights activist Mr. Gazi Salahuddin in the context of his country's recent banning of Facebook and YouTube over their online publication of representations of the Prophet Mohammed.

Ambiguities about the issue were reflected in a snap poll in which a majority of the audience believed that such images should not appear online, but at the same time rejected the suggestion that universal guidelines could be put in place for the banning of such material from the internet.

Divisions also appeared in discussions over the reporting on child victims. In the context of widespread condemnation of the invasion of the privacy of a young Dutch boy, the sole survivor of the recent plane crash in Libya, many delegates condemned the hypocrisy of western news organisation's routine lack of similar concerns when reporting on child victims in Africa and Asia.

It was also pointed out that it was odd for senior broadcast executives to be now condemning the Libyan incident when their organizations had nonetheless carried pictures of the boy. The Summit continues.

D5) 31/5/10: Botswana adventure trumps Hollywood action in Beijing

(BEIJING) - Dreaming of an otherworldly setting with eye-popping flora and fauna that surrounds you living 3D? Looking for a luxury adventure beyond any 007 setting?

If so than the Okavango region is the place be according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), as well as the to remain nameless celebrities, royals and global movers and shakers who regularly slip in and out of Botswana's own garden of Eden.

In winning the WTTC Destination Stewardship Award in Beijing last week the Okavango Delta Ramsar Site, sponsored by Botswana Tourism, beat out some 160 other entries from around the world, most of which have benefited from far better financed media campaigns. This fact is clearly reflected in the award's two other finalists, which many considered to be more favoured given their high profile media tie-ins.

Besides having the home field advantage, China's already well marketed Mount Huangshan Scenic Site gained a windfall of additional publicity in recent months when it was identified as having been an inspiration for the CGI generated topography Pandora, the fantasy moon setting of the all-time blockbuster movie "Avatar".

Movie fans may also remember the recent James Bond movie "Casino Royal" as an embedded tourism commercial for second runner up Montenegro, whose "wild beauty" advertisements have become a fixture on CNN and elsewhere.

But in the end, with the world's cameras rolling the top prize went to the Botswana Tourism organisation for doing more with less. Perhaps the best news is that now that the prize has been won we can expect to see the Okavango and Botswana tourism in general being much more in the global media spotlight in the coming months.

The WTTC Destination Tourism Award is given in recognition of a destination, country or region whose local enterprises along with authorities show the greatest success in maintaining a programme of sustainable tourism management.

II. MINISTER MOTSUMI IN JAPAN -

D6) 1/6/10: Minister Motsumi's working visit promotes cooperation with Japan.

(Tokyo) - Japan is eager to explore possible avenues for increased technical cooperation, training and investment with Botswana. This is the message conveyed to Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Hon. Lesego Motsumi, in her talks with senior Japanese leaders and officials in Tokyo at the beginning of an intensive five day working visit, which will involve engagements with communications and broadcast industry stakeholders, aid agencies officials and senior members of the Japanese Business Federation, as well as high level Government contacts.

On Monday Minister Motsumi met with her Japanese counterpart the Hon. Minister for Internal Affairs and Communication, Kazuhiro Haraguchi, along with senior officials from his Ministry and NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. Areas of discussion included potential support for Digital TV development and further cooperation between NHK and Botswana's Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS).

During the meetings the Minister and her delegation, which includes resident Ambassador Oscar Motswagae, the Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Ticky Pule and the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Media, Dr. Jeff Ramsay, expressed reciprocal interest in the prospect of forging a partnership framework with the Japanese, which could be open to additional participation by the countries' private sector and academic communities.

Earlier, on Sunday, the Minister toured the Panasonic Technology Centre and NHK Research Institute for Broadcasting, where she was briefed on the broadcaster's role in spearheading technological development and adaptation in collaboration with domestic and international partners.

In discussing investment opportunities, the Botswana delegation reminded their Japanese counterparts that while Botswana was a small country in terms of its domestic market, through its membership in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and various trade agreements it enjoyed preferential access to major global markets.

The potential role of the Innovation Hub and local Universities as cooperation catalysts was also raised.

Opportunities for investment and human resource development where further discussed during the Minister's meeting with former Japanese Prime Minister H.E. Yasuo Fakuda, who as a still active Member of Parliament has been in the forefront of promoting Africa Japan linkages. Mr. Fakuda, who has visited Botswana, has in the past been supportive of the Diamonds for Development campaign in Japan, which is the second biggest consumer of the gems behind the USA and ahead of the fast emerging Chinese market.

During the remainder of her stay in Japan, highlights of Minister Motsumi's busy schedule should include engagements with the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Tetsuro Fukuyama, the Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, leading Japanese jewelers and Science and Technology experts, as well as follow-up discussions with the President and senior management of NHK.

The Minister began her working visit to Japan on Saturday with a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park, where she laid a wreath in memory of the victims of the 1945 atomic bomb attack, whose eyewitness horror was detailed by one of the nuclear holocaust's survivors and prominent peace activists, Mrs. Seiko Ikeda [pictures available on request].

D7) 2/6/10: "Okavango award sparkles in Japan"

(Tokyo) - Botswana Tourism's winning of the prestigious Destination Stewardship Award at last week's World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Beijing already has at least one Japanese business group smiling at the prospect of marketing synergies.

As part of its "Support Africa-SA Birth" marketing campaign, the Uchihara Group recently launched its "Okavango" line of fine diamond jewellery fashioned exclusively from Botswana diamonds, whose individual pieces retail from 27 thousand to just under 3 million pula .

In discussions with the visiting Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Hon. Lesego Motsumi, the Group's CEO, Mr. Ichiro Uchihara, confirmed that the tourism award could not have been better timed for the Okavango brand's launch in Japan, which is the world's second largest retail market for gem diamonds.

Okavango Brand brochures, printed before the award, feature lush images of the Delta as "A Heaven on Earth" to Japanese consumers. Inside the brochures is an accompanying message from resident Ambassador Motswagae extolling Botswana's breathtaking biodiversity with the affirmation that revenue earned from diamond sales goes towards the provision of education and health care to local communities.

For its part the Uchihara group has pledged that a portion of the revenues from Okavango sales will be donated to local conservation efforts.

The Okavango line of jewelleries unique designs evoke the winding patterns of the Delta's channels.

Promoting such win-win business opportunities ranked high on Minister Motsumi's agenda during her hectic 5 day working visit to Japan this week, which included engagements with broadcast industry stakeholders, senior aid agency officials and prominent members of the Japanese Business Federation, as well as high level Government contacts.

Topics of discussion raised during the visit included potential Japanese technical and financial support for Digital Broadcasting, educational television, and human resource development as well as energy and transport projects, such as the Kazangula Bridge and Morupule power plant expansion.

In talks with the Chairman of the Business Federation's Sub-Saharan Africa Committee, Mr. Dobashi, Minister Motsumi further focused on possible investment incentives for Japanese companies locating to Botswana.

While in Tokyo the Minister was also briefed on opportunities and risks in the Asian Diamond market by the management of Forevermark Brand.

The Minister began her working visit at Hiroshima where she laid a wreath in memory of the victims of the 1945 nuclear bomb attack at the city's iconic Peace Park.

D8) 3/6/10: Japan remains committed to Botswana partnership.

(Tokyo) - Japan remains committed to building stronger partnership with Botswana and the rest of Africa in the context of the TICAD (Tokyo Conference on Africa Development) process. This was the message conveyed to the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Lesego Motsumi, in her talks with senior Japanese officials in Tokyo on Wednesday, a day which began with the unexpected resignation of the country's Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama.

Hatoyama had been in office for less than nine months, having come to power in September 2009 in an election that saw his Democracy Party of Japan defeat the long ruling but fractious Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled nation since 1955.

Minister Motsumi was just arriving at the headquarters of NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster, for follow-up discussions on potential cooperation, when the Prime Minister's announcement brought the morning routines to a brief halt.

The fourth Prime Minister to leave office in just four years, Hatoyama's resignation has raised concern in some quarters about the challenges of executive leadership in the world's second largest economy.

But, according to informed observers, the underlying stability of the Japanese political system and civil service is not expected to be affected, while the ruling party identifies a new leader in the coming days. Until then Hatoyama will remain in office as caretaker Prime Minister.

Hatoyama's fall came about after his Government reneged on a campaign promise to move a U.S. Military base off the Japanese island of Okinawa and what was otherwise widely considered to be a minor financial scandal.
Discussions at NHK were designed to further clarify partnership proposals in the fields of Digital Broadcasting and Educational Television.

These talks followed Minister Motsumi's Monday morning meetings with her Japanese counterpart the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communication, Kazuhiro Haraguchi, and other senior officials from his Ministry and NHK, in which the Japanese put forward proposals for a long-term partnership agreement, which will be further considered.

Besides early morning and working dinner discussions with the NHK management, the final day of Minister Motsumi's working visit included meetings with executives of the Japanese Business Federation and Forevermark Diamond brand.

At Forevermark, Motsumi emphasized the positive role played by diamond revenues in transforming the lives of ordinary Batswana.

During her visit the Hon. Motsumi also held substantive discussions with the Japanese State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Tetsuro Fukuyama, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fakuda, and senior officials of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), all of whom expressed their personal interest and support for potential Botswana-Japanese cooperation in broadcasting and the promotion of trade and investment.

In her various discussions of investment opportunities during the visit, Minister Motsumi reminded her Japanese counterparts that while Botswana was a small country in terms of its domestic market, through its membership in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and various trade agreements it enjoyed preferential access to major global markets.

The potential role of the Innovation Hub and local Universities as cooperation catalysts was also raised.

In her meetings, the Minister was joined by resident Ambassador Oscar Motswagae, Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Ticky Pule and the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Media, Dr. Jeff Ramsay.

While in Japan, the Motsumi also toured the Panasonic Technology Centre and NHK Research Institute for Broadcasting. The latter's spearheading of technological development and adaptation in collaboration with domestic and international partners was seen as an example and potential partner for Botswana broadcasting services.

The Minister began her working visit to Japan on Saturday with a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park, where she laid a wreath in memory of the victims of the 1945 atomic bomb attack, whose eyewitness horror was detailed by one of the nuclear holocaust's survivors and prominent peace activists, Mrs. Seiko Ikeda.

D9) 3/6/10: Motsumi finds potential partners in China and Japan

Tokyo - With over 1.2 billion viewers, in excess of 95% of its population, regularly tuning in to both radio and television for news, information and entertainment, China on any given day has more consumers of its broadcasting services than the combined totals for all of North and South America as well as Africa.

Serving this vast audience is a network of over 2000 combined radio and television broadcasters, along with several hundred stand alone stations, most of which though falling under the State Administration of Radio and Television (SARTV) exist as self-financing, commercially independent, operators.

Given the size and diversity of its consumer base it should come as no surprise that Chinese broadcasting services, delivered through cable, satellite and online as well as terrestrial means now cater to a wide range of tastes and social perspectives; a reality that might come as a surprise to some.

With over 400 million of its citizens also now regularly accessing the internet, media growth in China is consistent with the country's overall emergence as a globally competitive economic superpower.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Japan rapid advances in digital broadcast technology, including Super High Definition and 3D television, are fundamentally redefining the role of television both here and around the world, as a platform for interactive communication, learning and other, occasionally controversial, uses, such as surveillance. The long-term social implications of this technological transformation will only become clear in the fullness of time.

Advances in Japanese broadcasting have come about through a sustained commitment on of its Government and NHK, the public broadcaster, to work closely with private industry and academia in promoting innovation through applied research and development.

Given China and Japan's shared status as leading Global Information Age centres, the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Lesego Motsumi was happy to honour separate official invitations to come to both countries in to discuss potential cooperation and partnership in the field of broadcasting and associated services, for which she holds portfolio responsibility.

The Chinese invitation was further linked to SARTV's hosting of this year's Asia Media Summit in Beijing, which brought together over 800 industry stakeholders from five continents, providing a unique networking opportunity.

Throughout the Minister's working visits a lesson which emerged was that modern broadcasting services, even in small developing societies, can no longer afford to survive as passive recipients of other people's technology and programming.

There is, instead, an urgent need for countries like Botswana to build sustained global partnerships that combine technology transfer with system adaptation to local developmental needs and circumstance, along with a greater emphasis on co-production, content sharing for cost recovery and aggressive global outreach.

In such a process inter-government contacts can ideally lead to the forging of cooperative frameworks that will also come to incorporate civil society and private sector stakeholders as a catalyst for knowledge based economic growth and the wider and more efficient provision of public services.

An example of this potential is NHK's current collaboration with Al-Jazeera's Children Channel, which is being seen as a benchmark for similar NHK assistance in the anticipated launch of educational television services in Botswana.

Japan's readiness to explore additional avenues for increased technical cooperation, training and investment in Botswana media was confirmed in Minister Motsumi's talks with senior Japanese leaders and officials during her intensive five day working visit, which involved engagements with communications and broadcast industry representatives, aid agencies officials and senior members of the Japanese Business Federation, as well as Government contacts.

While in Beijing Minister Motsumi also held a series of high level meetings with Government leaders and top executives, culminating in bilateral talks with the Chinese Minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), Wang Chen, who assured her delegation of China's own interest in pursuing a bilateral cooperation agreement with Botswana for the two countries mutual benefit in the spirit of South-South cooperation.

The SCIO exists as China's key "working organ" for media outreach, being responsible for promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Forum of China Africa Cooperation or FOCAC process.

In Beijing, Minster Motsumi also met with the senior managements of SARTV, China Central Television (CCTV) the China Radio and TV Corporation for International Techno-Economic Cooperation (CRTV) and Xinhua News Agency, which confirmed its desire to open a bureau in Gaborone.

No comments: