Israeli Diamond Portal Reports: Japan Seeks Deeper Ties with Botswana

Dec. 8, 2008 - PRLog -- Japan has joined the bandwagon of countries that are interested in tapping Botswana's vast mineral, diamond and energy resources as the scramble for African diamond and other natural resources between Asian and Western countries gathers steam, writes  Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone).

This week, Botswana played host to a 50-member mission from Japan, which was in the country to explore trade and investment opportunities and met with President Ian Khama and other government and private sector officials.

The Japanese mission, which comprised politicians, government officials and private sector players, was in the country from August 31 to September 2.

In an interview with Mmegi on Monday, the head of the delegation, Japan's Senior Vice Minister of the Economy, Trade and Industry Takamori Yoshikawa said they have been convinced about giving top priority for trade and investment partnerships to Botswana due to its worldwide reputation of good governance.

He added that “the mission signals the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise made by my Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in May in which we aimed to double Japanese private investment in Africa by 2012.”

“Botswana is the first country we have visited on this tour mostly due to the fact that we have been particularly impressed by the good governance and peace that prevails in the country,” Yoshikawa said.
From Botswana, the mission will go to Mozambique, Madagascar and South Africa. Two other teams have been dispatched by the Japanese government to East and West Africa.

Although Yoshikawa could not shed light on the specific industries they are targeting because everything is still at fact finding and information gathering level, he hinted that they were mostly interested in minerals, energy (coal and coke) and information technology.

Presently, Japan, which opened its embassy in Botswana at the beginning of this year, has no direct investment in the country, although there is a significant amount of trade between the two, mainly in diamonds. Some Japanese companies have shown a keen interest in the Mmamabula Power Project and the proposed Kazungula Bridge to link Botswana and Zambia, and possibly Zimbabwe, across the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers.

Sources of foreign direct investment in Botswana have largely been Britain, the US, South Africa and Australia. The Chinese have appeared to be making considerable inroads lately.

Following a similar visit in November last year, Botswana and Japan signed an agreement to establish a geological remote sensing centre in Botswana for the exploration of mineral resources - especially rare metals - using Japanese space satellites. Japan's Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation (JOGMEC), that has expertise in mineral exploration, and the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, are jointly creating the centre within the Department of Geological Surveys.

The project, Yoshikawa said, will offer Botswana and the region an advantage to secure basic geological information over vast areas and to mine and extract minerals for the benefit of the people.

"I have visited the centre and progress is already underway, he told Mmegi. Already there are about five trainees there receiving technical assistance. I believe that with the advanced technology that will be transferred to Botswana and the SADC countries, and the chance that it avails for rare metals to be detected for new mineral investment projects by Japanese companies, we will be in a position to meet the ever increasing demand for rare metals in Japan."

During the visit, Yoshikawa met with President Ian Khama to whom he delivered a personal letter from Prime Minister Fukuda and another to Vice President Mompati Merafhe. Merafhe attended the Tokyo International Conference on African Development on behalf of President Khama in May. The team also held discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Phandu Skelemani on bilateral relations.
"We also had very fruitful discussions with the private sector representative bodies such as BOCCIM, as well quasi-government bodies such as the BDC and BEDIA, Yoshikawa said.

"I also met with the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, who gave us a very detailed presentation on the country's investment policy while he was also particularly interested in solar energy and technology development."

The Japanese Ambassador to Botswana, Ryoichi Matsuyama, said although the Botswana market is relatively small, they intend to use the country as a gateway to the SADC market.



By: PolishedPrices

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