Hungary to sponsor 30 Batswana students
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday December 12, 2014 13:42
“We are about to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development on that issue. Our meeting was on Tuesday, but there are certain things that we had agreed upon. If the agreement is signed quickly, 10 students will enrol next September,” Balogh said during the Hungarian Trading House official opening in Gaborone.
He said it is up to the government to decide on the areas in which they want their students to be enrolled in.
Balogh said the signing of agreement might take a couple of months. The minister further stated that the reason they opened a trade house in Gaborone is because they want to have business relations with Batswana. He also said that they are looking into business opportunities that they could venture into.
“The Hungarian National Trading House will answer the needs of the Hungarian needs in small and medium enterprises regarding export potentials necessary for their expansion,” Balogh said, adding that this would spell the economic growth of Hungary.
He said: “The cooperation will be implemented in the framework of projects offering a product or service of enterprise within a certain range to be regarded a single project.”
Meanwhile, the Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Sadique Kebonang, said for the last 30 years, they have been seeking to diversify the country’s economy from being too dependent on diamonds.
“Like Hungary, we recognise that small and medium enterprises can be a stimulus to economic growth and development. It is for this reason that we are excited to partner with you in this project. As a government, we recognise that there is more to be gained from multinational companies and partnerships in the form of skills transfer, foreign exchange, opening up of foreign markets and technology transfer,” Kebonang said.
He said these benefits arise, however, only when there is confidence in the political environment.
He assured Hungarians that Botswana has a stable and predictable environment and is the only country with no foreign exchange restrictions.