Botswanan Minister of Trade and Industry Mmusi Kgafela (C, Rear) attends a press conference in Gaborone, Botswana, on Oct. 4, 2023. Botswana will host the 17th Global Expo in partnership with the European Union (EU) in Gaborone on Oct. 11-14, during which both sides will launch the EU-Botswana Business Forum. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)
GABORONE, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Botswana will host the 17th Global Expo in partnership with the European Union (EU) in its capital city, Gaborone, on Oct. 11-14, during which both sides will launch the EU-Botswana Business Forum.
The expo serves as a premier business-to-business and multisectoral event organized and managed on behalf of the government by the Botswana Investment and Trade Center, said Minister of Trade and Industry Mmusi Kgafela on Wednesday.
The Global Expo Botswana aims to foster lasting commercial connections between Botswana companies and their international counterparts through focused one-on-one interactions, facilitated by its signature program, the Business Matchmaking Program.
The objective of the expo is to attract foreign direct investment into Botswana, achieved through foreign companies exhibiting at the Global Expo, while also promoting goods and services produced in Botswana to international markets, Kgafela said.
About 500 delegates are expected to participate in the event, with 300 companies set to exhibit their products and the participation of an estimated 4,000 visitors. According to Kgafela, Botswana is anticipated to generate about 30 million pula (about 2.1 million U.S. dollars) in business, including investment deals, local spending and product sales during the event.
Furthermore, the minister emphasized that the EU-Botswana Business Forum provides an opportunity for Botswana and European partners, industry leaders, investors and private sector organizations to explore new investment and trade prospects. ■
