Cooperation with China has greatly contributed to Botswana's economic development, and the southern African country can tap into its huge potential by learning lessons and experiences from China, Minister of International Relations of Botswana Phenyo Butale said in Beijing on Friday.
As this year marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between China and Botswana, Butale reflected on the development of the bilateral relations and outlined future cooperation between the two countries in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN).
"We have been enjoying excellent relations with the People's Republic of China. And our analysis and evaluation of the relationship is that it has been a relationship that has been mutually beneficial. It has been a win-win relationship. We have benefited a lot from, first of all, China's wisdom, China's experience," he said.
Botswana is looking to China's development model for inspiration as it gears up to diversify its economy, said the minister.
"We have our own ambitious plan of industrialization, or industrializing rapidly, job creation, digitization of our economy, and massive infrastructure upgrades. All these, we believe, are a journey that China, as a country, has traveled through, and we are looking forward to learning and leveraging on our relations," he said.
Noting that China is one of Botswana's major trading partners, the minister said that trade and economic exchanges between the two countries have contributed to Botswana's transformation and social development.
"It will contribute and it has contributed immensely to our development. We also know that the situation where China is currently in terms of the ability of the economy to be so resilient is something that inspires us. You know that Botswana has been, to a large extent, a single commodity economy, dependent largely on diamonds. We now have to implement diversification, we have to ensure that we take part in downstream industries, and diamonds and other minerals, to which we are inviting China," Butale said.
The momentum of China-Botswana cooperation is growing stronger, bringing tangible benefits to both countries while also providing a crucial impetus for broader China-Africa cooperation.
"We have seen ourselves as the gateway to Southern Africa, the gateway to Africa. Many Chinese companies could then be interested in setting up shops in Botswana, setting up manufacturing plants in Botswana, and launching into the big Southern African markets," he said.
Cooperation with China contributes to Botswana's development: FM
Cooperation with China contributes to Botswana's development: FM
