Africa-Press – Botswana. There is a need for Botswana and EU to engage more often to effectively enhance their strategic partnership for mutual gain.
This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Lemogang Kwape during the Botswana and EU Political Dialogue in Gaborone on Tuesday.
Dr Kwape said Botswana was committed to working with the European Union (EU) to solidify and enhance cooperation between the two.
He said such would help the country on its endeavour to strengthen its systems and develop crucial sectors such as health, education transport, renewable energy and others through innovation, technology and digitalisation.
“I have no doubt that we will succeed in this endeavour because our relations are longstanding and anchored on shared interests and commitments to common values of democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, among other noble principles,” he said.
Dr Kwape said relations between the two had grown significantly in a number of areas including political relations, security, development cooperation, economic and trade relations.
The Botswana-EU political dialogue platform accords Botswana, EU and individual member states an opportunity to share ideas and engage in a candid exchange of views on regional and global issues of mutual interest and concern, he said.
Dr Kwape expressed optimism that the current discussions would bear positive results that would give birth to a solid strategic partnership aimed at promoting and sustaining socio-economic and political developments as well as uplifting living standards.
Also, the minister thanked the EU member states for the long term assistance they had extended to Botswana over the years, adding that the country had benefited from a combination of bilateral assistance, European Development Fund and technical assistance.
Dr Kwape said the country had also benefited from EU instruments such as the Beef Protocol, among others.
For her part, Head of the European Union delegation and co-chairpeerson, Ms Petra Pereyra said Botswana was a valuable partner to the EU and the two shared common values and interests.
She also stated that the Botswana-EU Dialogue had many achievements at both local and international level.
Further, Ms Pereyra congratulated Botswana for hosting the Kimberly Process secretariat, saying that was an acknowledgement on how the country had been mining and managing its natural resources.
The fourth Botswana-EU political dialogue discussed, among others, political and economic aspects, political developments as well as multilateral issues in the SADC region and globally.
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