04 Mar 2013

The Ambassador of Japan to Botswana, Mr Hiroyasu Kobayashi says Japan has been actively working on various activities for economic cooperation in Botswana.

Speaking at the launch of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr Kobayashi said the most recent large scale project was the Kazungula bridge project.

He said the bridge, after completion, would provide an international link between Botswana and Zambia over the Zambezi River, at the same time providing a smoother passage through the North and South corridor of the southern part of Africa.

“The Kazungula Bridge is expected to enhance activities in areas such as transportation, industrial and agricultural production region,” he said.

In addition to the large scale infrastructure, Mr Kobayashi said Japan has also implemented technical cooperation adding that currently, there were five technical experts and 19 volunteers that had been dispatched to Botswana.

He said the 19 volunteers, each technically specialised in their own field, were working in government departments, colleges and non-governmental organisations across the country.

The JICA training programmes, he said, were one of Japan’s main pillars of economic assistance and with continued efforts of the agency offices in Botswana, training programmes have been in place for 20 years with an increasing number of trainees eager to do on-site training.

Also, Mr Kobayashi added that after completing the programme, ex-participants have worked towards further local development with the new knowledge and technical know-how that was gained through the training Japan.

Further, he said training programmes were not only geared towards technology transfer but also contributed towards strengthening the connection and interlink between Botswana and Japan.

On behalf of the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) director, Ms Goaba Mosienyane, also Public Service Reforms coordinator, said JICA provided the country with an opportunity to identify areas which were lacking and finds creative redress actions.

She said the agency provided members with an opportunity to learn from the industry, practitioners and experts and it gave trainees a platform to implement their action plans and come up with initiatives that would contribute positively to Botswana’s economic growth with reference to increasing relationship between the two countries.

“One of the key strengths of such an association lies with a unique opportunity for the participants to establish a strong social and professional networking and build lasting fraternity bonds,” she said.

Ms Mosienyane said the increasing integration is most valuable in contributing towards greater understanding and potential for collaborative efforts that are of mutual interest.

She said the skills acquired from Japan, have helped Botswana to improve the skills base of the public sector in a wide range of specialised areas such as public sector administration, Kaizen philosophy and ICT.

She noted that over the last 20 years, more than 600 public officers have been trained under the programme and praised Japan for such cooperation.

JICA/JOCV Botswana Resident representative, Mr Nobuhiro Kumagai said although it was common knowledge that Japan did not have minerals resources, the country has invested more on human resources hence Japanese Kaizen philosophy was embraced and accepted all over the world.

“During your stay in Japan, you may have noticed that it is not only the qualifications that matters, but also a work ethics,” he said adding that in Japan, at times more emphasis was given on work ethics than in qualifications.

Thus, he encouraged JICA members to impart what they have learnt in Japan to other Batswana so as to improve their organisations’ service delivery and make a positive impact to the community. ENDS