Botswana and Namibia have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of agriculture, health, trade and immigration, International Affairs and Cooperation Minister Lemogang Kwape has said.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of a virtual ministerial meeting of the 6th Session of the Botswana-Namibia Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation on Thursday night, Kwape said Botswana attaches great importance to its bilateral ties and strategic cooperation with its western neighbour.
“We come out of this meeting even more united and stronger, with positive outcomes, which all attest to our ever-growing friendship,” the minister said.
He said the objective of the meeting was to further strengthen the bilateral engagements by providing the opportunity to discuss issues that are pertinent to the socio-economic development of both countries.
These included agriculture, health, immigration, trade and investment, mining, environment and tourism, he said.
The meeting came a few months after the neighbouring countries were plunged into a diplomatic crisis following the fatal shooting of four Namibian nationals by members of the Botswana Defence Force in November 2020 on suspicion of being poachers.
The incident caused some tension between Gaborone and Windhoek, resulting in high-level discussions between officials from both countries.
JN/APA