17 Mar 2025

Government will conduct significant transformations across various sectors to ensure that all institutional mandates align with the
government’s vision, key priorities and principles.

Remarking during his virtual meet and greet session with Botswana envoys yesterday, President Advocate Duma Boko expressed appreciation for the ‘great’ work that the envoys had done and continued to do for the nation.

President Boko also encouraged the envoys to engage fairly with him in an open, honest and transparent manner as well as provide government with advice on how best to address the matters of foreign direct investment.

Government, he said, was committed to upholding human rights in line
with its vision and priorities.

“This is a new government, new in many respects, though with less than six months in office, but our aim is to position our country as a global player in trade and investment through formulation of long-term and strategic partnerships,” said the President.

As part of its priorities, he said government would strive to propel the country’s economy to greater heights. This, he said could only be achieved if the envoys also provided government with proper guidance and articulated government aspirations well when seeking foreign direct investment.

“Together we can discuss the challenges that the country is faced with and come up with solutions on how best to address them,” he added.

President Boko emphasised that government was committed to its human right approach, which was also espoused in the country’s Constitution.

He also stressed that government was also committed to achieving the promised P4 000 living wage objective ‘and will not back down on this proposition’.

For that reason, President Boko said government, together with the private sector, were equally compelled to implement and take decisive actions that would make the living wage commitment possible.

“When you pay people well, they will be productive and you will make more profit. Remunerating and rewarding employees appropriately is a fundamental human right preposition,” he emphasised.

He therefore, stressed that government would strive to ensure successful implementation of the living wage promise.

With only less than six months in office, the President said the government was diligently shaping its path, reaffirming government’s
commitment to driving FDI through a diplomatic approach rooted in merit and excellence.

Therefore, he urged the envoys to reflect and conduct a thorough self-
assessment to ensure their work aligned with government principles and objective, adding that such was critical in enabling government to carefully craft the country’s foreign policy based on facts.

Adv. Boko also assured the envoys of government’s support, saying his administration would relief them from the burden of having to justify the indefensible.

In his welcome remarks, Minister for International Relations, Dr Phenyo Butale said the virtual meet and greet session was meant to ensure that there was interaction between the President and the envoys.

During his external trips, Dr Butale said President Adv. Boko had an opportunity to meet some of the Botswana envoys. However, he said there were still some envoys that the President had not yet met, hence the virtual meet and greet session.

The minister said the session was also meant to afford President Boko an opportunity to share with envoys the new government’s vision and key priorities, as well as to acknowledge the various mandates they were tasked with.

For her vote of thanks, the Dean of Botswana Diplomatic Corps, and also Ambassador of Botswana to Belgium and Mission of the European Union, Ms Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba expressed gratitude to President Boko.

“We are happy for this opportunity to engage with you, as Botswana envoys, on pertinent matters of governance, since the diplomatic missions are an integral part of upholding good foreign policy in global community engagement,” she said.

She also assured the President of their concerted efforts to ensure
strengthened diplomatic ties for the country’s FDI aspirations to be effectively and efficiently met. ENDS