Senior Officials of the US Government,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to welcome you all to this occasion, marking the 37th Anniversary of Botswana’s existence as an independent and sovereign nation. We appreciate your presence here today, to celebrate with us, this important day on our political calendar.

Upon attainment of independence 37 years ago, the people of Botswana embarked on a journey of nation building and development. The journey was long, difficult and still continues. Some modest achievements have been made along the way. Political tolerance, prudent management of national resources and consensus as a basis for national action, were, and are still among the main ingredients in the process. This, while necessary, is not a sufficient condition for success. We discovered, like many other nations, that we also needed a friendly and conducive external environment, to achieve our goals. And this is what I wish to speak about briefly tonight.

As a developing country, Botswana faces many challenges. In his message to the nation, earlier today, to mark the 37th Anniversary of Independence, His Excellency President Mogae, identified some of the major challenges facing the country. These include HIV/AIDS, economic diversification, employment creation and poverty reduction, rural development, disaster management and human resource development. In our search for solutions to these vexing issues – which is our prime responsibility – we have sought collaboration of the international community to complement our own efforts.
We thank all our co-operating partners, including the United States, for the assistance they continue to extend to our country. And we will expect the role of the international community to increase and not diminish in tackling the development challenge, for we believe that the Millennium Development Goals, an international undertaking – cannot be achieved without a propitious, supportive global environment and co-operation.

International co-operation continues to benefit my country in its fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic. As one of the countries with the highest prevalence rates of the killer virus in the world, my country will always seek external assistance to fight the scourge. In this regard, I wish to express the gratitude of the people of Botswana to the international system, including efforts by individual countries such as the United States, and the US private sector, for the assistance accorded to the country in its hour of need.

As a small and poor country, Botswana needs a wider economic base to generate additional resources necessary to develop. One way to achieve this objective is to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and encourage trade at regional level, as well as with the rest of the world.

My message to my American friends today is that the Botswana Government has put in place the necessary measures – be it policy framework, physical infrastructure, financial institutions – to make the country an attractive destination for foreign investment. The opportunities for investment are also spread across a wide range of sectors.
In this context, we appreciate the opportunities created by AGOA for enhanced investment flows and trade exchanges between Africa and the United States of America. We therefore join other African countries and indeed friends of Africa in the US, in the call for an extension of AGOA, including the provisions for the Least Developed Countries. We are also encouraged by the creation of the Small Business Centre, as a financing window of OPIC for US small businesses intending to do business outside the US. The on-going negotiations for a Free Trade Area between SACU Member States and the US, is yet another important step in improving the external environment for mutually beneficial collaboration.

Allow me to acknowledge the positive role played by African countries, among others in the developing world, in improving the international environment for closer co-operation and interaction with the industrialised world. Regional economic communities in Africa, created to facilitate intra-African trade and investment, also offer larger and more viable markets for exports from developed countries.
Many other changes in Africa in recent years have contributed to a profound overall revival on the continent. The challenge is for developed countries to explore more actively, the new dynamic environment in Africa, for real partnership based on equity and mutual respect.

Colleagues,
We are here to celebrate. However, as a developing country, our joy is tempered by the reality that we all still need to do much more, to ensure that the developing world, joins the global village as an active and respected player, not as a poor neighbour.