Page 18 - issue 26

18 In The News

Budget 2020/21

highlights for the

Engineering sector

Minister of Finance Honorable Dr.Thapelo Matsheka

his Government is committed to transforming the • Government has engaged the United Nations
economy through, refocusing existing policies, Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to develop
Tstrategies and programmes….in order to create an the National E-Commerce Strategy, which will be in place by
inclusive economy with greater citizen participation. June 2020.
• Government is reviewing the PPADB (Public
•The first priority is Promotion of export-led growth. Procurement and Asset Disposal) Act.
•The second is: Ensuring more efficient government • Government has initiated the review of the EIA
spending and financing. (Environmental Impact Assessment) Act to enhance project
•The third is Building human capital. implementation
•The fourth pillar is the Provision of appropriate infrastructure • Government is also developing a Decentralisation
Policy (to involve private sector)
Inflation was within the Bank of Botswana medium-term • A value-for-money audit of expenditure on the
objective range of 3 – 6 percent. The outlook for domestic education and health sectors.
inflation is stable. • Government is also developing an Internship and
Apprenticeship Framework
• Draft National Employment Policy (NEP) is in process
What the Government is undertaking : • Government is providing funding for constructing
silos in Pandamatenga to be utilized by commercial farmers
Government will be refocusing attention to the agriculture operating within the agricultural Special Economic zone
and manufacturing sectors. The transformation programme • Government is formulating a law on citizen economic
requires a review of the country’s entire ecosystem for empowerment to support the existing Citizen Economic
promoting exports, including regulatory environment, fiscal Empowerment (CEE) policy.
incentives, and provision of basic infrastructure. • Forbes under 30 conference is coming to Botswana
this April.
A subcommittee of Cabinet chaired by the Finance Minister • The Trade Act and the Industrial Development Act
will undertake a comprehensive review of the parastatals’ will allow the issuance of licenses and registration certificates
landscape so that the mandates of these organisations are over the counter.
repositioned to support the transformation journey. • In July 2019, Cabinet approved a comprehensive
and internationally competitive incentive package, which the
• The Finance Ministry will revisit the process of Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA) will use to attract
delivering public infrastructure through the Public Private Foreign Direct Investment. These incentives include, among
Partnership (PPP) model others, 5 percent corporate tax for the first ten (10) years

Issue 26 Feb-Mar 2020 www.engineermagazine.co.bw