2018年CRI Botswana president expects energized and enhanced cooperation with China

Ahead of his visit to China to attend the upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum 1 on China-Africa Cooperation, Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi sat down with members of the media from China to talk about his expectations on the summit. He also spoke 2 more broadly about Botswana-China relations.

Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi believes that the mechanisms 4 of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation serve as a platform for enhancing cooperation between African countries and China.

"The mechanism 3 is very well thought out, because China being the second biggest economy in the world, it makes much more sense for it and for African countries to come together as we jointly 5 articulate the new directions that China has taken with respect to its outlook on Africa," Masisi said.

A large number of heads of state of African countries are expected to attend the upcoming forum summit in Beijing.

President Masisi said that the meeting in Beijing is going to see a boost in the engagement between China and Africa.

"We are going to have this forum in China. The last one was in Africa, in Johannesburg. We expect, therefore, to have the benefit of interacting with more Chinese businesses, more Chinese industry and even more officials from China because they'll be hosting," Masisi noted 6.

President Masisi recalled the visit by Seretse Khama, Botswana's founding president, to China in 1976, one year after the two countries established diplomatic ties.

President Masisi, who was in high school at the time, said there was a lot of positive feedback about the visit, which provided a fresh opportunity for Botswana to gain a better understanding about China.

He suggests that his upcoming visit to China is part of a natural progression towards a deeper and sustained relationship with China.

"Particularly that China itself has become so much more sophisticated. So much more developed, so much more open to the world in terms of their achievements and there are a lot of examples you can provide in Botswana with that can be testified. You look at our railway network, you look at our telecommunication 7, infrastructure 8, a lot of that come from China," President Masisi said.

"So I expect that these relations as we energize 9 them, and take them to a new height should naturally result in even more what I have talked about. And also opportunities for Chinese goods, services, to come to Botswana and to be seen enjoyed by Botswana."

President Masisi said that he's been to China twice before, and has been deeply touched by China's achievements, which he says offer plenty of opportunities for Botswana to draw on when it comes to continuing along its own path to development.

"China is very impactful, China is very important member of the international community. By your sheer size, numbers, the land mass and you productive capacity. And we want to learn from that. But we want to learn to do it as much or more, because we are much fewer than you, much fewer so whatever we do, have to be felt more sharply and we want to pick up that compulsion to excel, the propensity 10 to want to do more. The drive and spirit and focus from the Chinese and implant 11 it among our own people."

This is Mokgweetsi Masisi's first visit to China as Botswana's President since he took office in April.