Botswana: Gaborone City hosted the 8th edition of the Mayor’s Forum for the members of the business community. The officials have shared that the main objective of the Mayor’s Forum was hosted to improve ease of doing business.
At the same time, the Mayor’s team wants to ensure that investors are facilitated smoothly in the different Zones. The forum was hosted on Thursday with members of the business community in attendance.
The members of the Gaborone City Council have shared the images from the forum on the social accounts. They announced that the forum is a platform for collaboration between Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA) and Local Authorities where Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are located.
The Mayor of Gaborone, Austin Abraham has welcomed the participants for the forum. He extended his sincere appreciation to members for continuing to attend the Forum meetings in large numbers.
He said the remarkable attendance indicates their commitment to the SEZ programme and devoted effort to boost local economies through the SEZ programme. He also appreciated GCC and SEZA for the relentless efforts which were made in co-organizing the meeting.
SEZA Chief Executive Officer Lonely Mogara specified that SEZ reform have a proven track record with respect to industrialization and employment creation the world over. Talking about the success rate of the initiative, he said that the reform follows a structured approach.
He further said that they would recognize areeas where there is need to conduct thorough feasibility studies, develop master plans, detailed designs, cadastral designs, construct primary infrastructure, on board investors as well as regulate trading
When closing the forum meeting, Local Economic Development (LED) Deputy Chairperson Amogelang Phologolo acknowledged the commendable work portrayed by LED officials.
She stated that their presentations have enriched members’ dialogue leading to actionable strategies and resolutions.
Phologolo highlighted that the involvement of Councils in facilitating SEZ investors is very instrumental as it will fast track the implementation of SEZ reform. The next Mayor’s Forum will be held at Palapye.