Four envoys present credentials

GABORONE - Envoys continue to present letters of credence to President Lt Gen.
Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
On Tuesday, representatives from Australia, Switzerland, Sierra Leone and Malaysia presented themselves to the president. All the representatives are based in Pretoria except the High Commissioner for Sierra Leone, who is based in Angola.
Ambassador Rudolf Baerfuss represents Switzerland; High commissioner Ann Harrap represents Australia, while Mr Andrew Bangali represents Sierra Leone.
Malaysia is represented by High Commissioner, Kennedy Jawan.
Acting minister for foreign Affairs and International Corporation, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse later hosted a lunch for the envoys at government guest house. Among the guests were ambassador for the Vatican, Archbishop James Green and Ambassador of Mali, Mr Sinaly Coulibaly, who presented their credentials on Monday. They too are based in Pretoria.
According to the minister, the presence of the envoys in the country was a reaffirmation of what he called a cordial relations and friendship which subsisted between Botswana and the countries the envoys represented.
Their being here, the minister said, provided an opportunity for the enhancement of the relations.
Mr Seretse said the close collaboration at both bilateral and multilateral level has continuously enabled the countries to exchange views on how to tackle some of the global development challenges that the countries were currently facing.
He cited the collaboration between Botswana and Mali at multilateral fora, in particular the African Union, the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of States ad other international bodies, to which the two countries shared common ideals and aspirations.
However, he said opportunities remained for more collaboration in other fields between the two countries.
Minister Seretse said Botswana was delighted about the recently formalised diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
This, he said would consolidate the relations, which the Holy See and Botswana have had for the past 50 years. He attributed the establishment of catholic churches in Botswana, with the resultant spiritual and social development, to this relationship.
For Switzerland, he explained that Botswana had great admiration for the manner in which the country had built a stable and prosperous economy with low unemployment and highly skilled labour force.
Botswana and Switzerland, he said, could further expand bilateral cooperation in the health sector, especially in the pharmaceutical area, project management and project administration through formal professional and technical exchange programmes.
The minister expressed optimism that the launching of the trade and investing network between Switzerland and the Southern African region in 2004 and the establishment of a free trade area between SACU and the European Free Trade Association would lead to increased trade opportunities in Botswana.
Mr Seretse said cooperation between Botswana and Australia had been focused on areas of human resource development, capacity building sports and agriculture, adding that Australia was hosting a large number of Batswana students studying medicine, engineering, information technology, education, nursing and arts.
This, he said, was a major contribution to the development of human resources in Botswana.
To Sierra Leone, he commended the government for what he said was "concerted efforts" for the restoration of peace, the consolidation of democracy and rebuilding of the economy in order to uplift the living standards of the people of Sierra Leone.
As for Malaysia, Mr Seretse said the country continued to make immense contribution towards the development of human resources in Botswana, adding that over 2000 Batswana students were studying in the Asian country.BOPA