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Introduction
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Mr Speaker, I have the honour this afternoon to present the draft ninth National Development Plan (NDP 9) to this august House. The period covered by the current National Development Plan 8 comes to an end on the 31st March 2003. NDP 9 will, thereafter, cover the six year period from 1st April 2003 to 31st March 2009.
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Mr Speaker, Botswana’s tradition of multi-year economic planning dates back to the time of Independence, with the drawing up of Botswana’s Transitional Plan for Social and Economic Development. Since then, successive National Development Plans have aimed at guiding the development of Botswana’s economy and drawing up programmes of public expenditure on recurrent and development projects,based on projected revenue resources of Government, including expected inflows of external assistance in the form of grants and concessional loans. Botswana and the world have undergone tremendous changes over the three and a half decades since Independence, but our basic approach to national development planning, drawn up in the context of the national principles of democracy, development, self-reliance, and unity, has remained largely intact. This is, as it should be, since these principles are as relevant today as they have always been in the past.The only major change effected, pursuant to Vision 2016, has been the adoption of an additional principle of ‘Botho’, which is engrained in Botswana culture, and refers to a state of being human, courteous and highly disciplined.
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Adherence to effective planning has contributed to Botswana’s transformation from one of the poorest countries at Independence to a middle income country, with a per capita GDP of P17 000 (or US$3 000). This dramatic transformation has changed Botswana from being essentially a cattle-rearing and rural based economy to one of the consistently fastest growing economies in the world. It is, therefore, important that we recognise the role played by the planning system in the past and future development of this country.
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Mr Speaker, the NDP 9 preparation process started in June 2001, under the guidance of a multi-sectoral Reference Group, which comprised Government officials from My Ministry, Office of the President, Ministry of Local Government, representatives of the private sector, trade unions, non-governmental organisations, the Vision 2016 Council, and the Bank of Botswana, among others. The process started with the preparation of the Macroeconomic Outline and Policy Framework for NDP 9, containing the theme for NDP 9, as well as financial and manpower ceilings for the Plan period. The Macroeconomic Outline and Policy Framework for NDP 9 was finalised after consultation with the line Ministries, Local Authorities, the NDP 9 Reference Group, and the all-Party Parliamentary Caucus, and was approved by Cabinet in March 2002. The drafting of other Chapters of NDP 9 started thereafter and went through similar stages of consultation and revision. A national planners’ seminar of Local and Central Government Planners was held in June 2002 to discuss issues of common interest, particularly to ensure that Local Authority concerns were incorporated into the National Development Plan, as well as discuss the distribution of national projects amongst the various Local Authorities. Subsequently, a Special National District Development Conference (NDDC) was held in August 2002 to consult further on the draft NDP 9. The NDDC offered another opportunity for stakeholders, such as Local Authorities, the private sector, trade unions and NGOs, to comment further on the draft Plan and ensure that their views were on board NDP 9. The draft Plan was subsequently discussed by the Economic Committee of Cabinet in August and later by Cabinet in October 2002.
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Mr Speaker, Chapter 1 of the draft Plan is about Botswana and her people, while Chapter 2 is on population characteristics and development prospects. Since these Chapters are for information, I shall skip them in this presentation and start straight away with the review of NDP 8 and prospects for NDP 9, which are covered by Chapter 3.
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- 100Kb ~ 1 min (29 pages)
