Singapore President visits BNPC

| Thursday April 26, 2007 00:00

A statement from the BNPC says the Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Daniel Kwelagobe, along with the Chairman of the BNPC Board Molebeledi Oagile and the BNPC Executive Director Thembo Lebang, will receive President Nathan at the BNPC headquarters in Gaborone.

President Nathan's visit comes two years after the conclusion of the Botswana-Singapore Technical Cooperation Agreement.

The agreement is a government-to-government tool for dealing with modalities of setting up a National Productivity Organisation (NPO) for Botswana.

The need for an NPO in Botswana was the result of a perceived poor work ethic among Batswana and the dangers relating to the country's over-reliance on one commodity - diamonds.

'There was, as there still is, an increasing call and need to diversify the economy,' said the BNPC statement.

With the view to establishing an NPO in Botswana, the government commissioned a study mission to Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the countries known as the Asian Tigers noted for their outstanding productivity.

The mission recommended Singapore, a country that relies heavily on its human resource development as it has little in terms of natural resources, as the preferred model.
Besides, Singapore also had an existing NPO

This tied in well with the needs of Botswana, particularly in view of the country's over-reliance on diamonds to power the economy.

The statement says Botswana needs to shift from this over-reliance on diamonds to a more diversified platform that should see citizens playing a major role in the improvement of their quality of life.

The BNPC operates as the leading transformation organisation in Botswana, focussed on creating a productivity consciousness and transforming the country into a prosperous, productive and innovative nation.