Africa-Press – Botswana. Hungary, which has been offering the support of 10 scholarships to Botswana students per year, has doubled the amount to 20 scholarships per annum.
This was said by Minister of Sport and Arts, Mr Jacob Kelebeng in an interview in Budapest yesterday, as President Advocate Duma Boko commences an official visit to the European nation today. The increase in scholarships to Hungarian tertiary institutions is the first tangible benefit Botswana will derive from solidifying ties with their European counterparts, Mr Kelebeng said. He further said the President’s visit aimed to strengthen bilateral ties and provide tangible benefit to Batswana in areas of trade, education and the sport sector.
“During the visit, President Boko is scheduled to meet President Tomas Salyok and prime minister, Mr Viktor Orban of Hungary to strengthen relations and we will look at other areas such as business, education and sports diplomacy,” Mr Kelebeng said.
He said his ministry aimed to professionalise sports and the arts, and while in Hungary they would visit top Hungarian facilities such as the Puskas Arena and the Duna Arena and learn the smart ways of constructing stadia as they focused on green energy and leverage on their hosting expertise.
He said the need for the country to diversify its economy and increase revenue streams was clear and sport could be an avenue to create employment and generate income. In addition to meeting the Hungary president and prime minister for official talks, President Boko is scheduled to meet a Hungarian business delegation and attend the Judo World Senior Championship.
“President Boko has been invited by the International Judo Federation (IJF), which has already pledged to build a judo facility in Dukwi, Botswana. The President is a judo enthusiast who has contributed to the IJF in a legal framework in the past,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Kelebeng yesterday held a meeting with Ms Boglarka Illes, the Hungarian State Secretary for Bilateral Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a Member of Parliament.
“We spoke about laying the framework for collaborating on sport diplomacy and other areas such as an overall Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by the two states. They have an Africa strategy, which seeks to increase trade volumes in manufactured goods, and our meeting, after Ms Illes had also met our Minister of International Relations Dr Phenyo Butale, laid the ground for the heads of state and government to cement ties,” Mr Kelebeng said.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
