10 Sep 2013

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Phandu Skelemani, has thanked Brazil for its bilateral assistance to Botswana.

Speaking at Brazil’s celebration of 191st anniversary of independence in Gaborone on September 9, Mr Skelemani thanked Brazil for the development projects that it was engaged in to fight poverty in Africa.

Mr Skelemani assured Brazil of Botswana’s commitment to work with it to explore more areas of bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of Batswana and Brazilians. He said Brazil overcame challenges and seized opportunities, both political and economic, to become a global power.

He added that Brazil had some turning points: in 2003, the country improved its macroeconomic stability, built foreign reserves and reduced its debt. He also said Brazil’s solid performance during the 2008 financial crisis and its strong and early recovery, including a growth of 7.5 per cent in 2010, contributed to making it the world’s seventh-largest economy and expected to move up to fifth position in the next few years.

“This is a remarkable, commendable and enviable achievement,” he said. He also said Botswana’s economy could reach similar levels if it benchmarked on the South American country. Botswana and Brazil have agreements for cooperation in agriculture, health and sports and will continue to exchange visits at various levels. 

Minister Skelemani said these activities should translate into more solid and practical engagements that would improve the lives of Batswana and Brazilians, particularly at this time when the two nations were fighting poverty.

He added that Botswana borrowed a leaf from Brazil’s anti-poverty programme. Brazil’s ambassador, Mr Marcio Araujo Lage, said his country multiplied its external contacts with African countries through the intensification of political, economic and cooperation relations over the past 10 years.

Nearly 20 resident embassies were opened or reopened in African capitals, including Gaborone, during that period. He said Brazil favoured dialogue and peace because it believed that to make the dialogue more fluid, the multilateral institutions needed to be more synchronised with the discussions, pleas and wishes of the developing world.

Mr Lage said Brazil was working with African and South Americans governments to reach specific initiatives in strategic areas of common interest for the two continents such as sustainable development, economic growth, reduction of inequalities, and environmental awareness.

In the southern region, the foundation for cooperation between SADC and Brazil were laid in the agreement of partnership and cooperation, signed in Brasilia in March 2010. The partnership and cooperation opened the opportunity for the development of southern Africa in areas of energy, social development, health and agriculture, when they have a regional integration dimension. ENDS