The Chinese Ambassador, Mr Zhao Yanbo, has called for more collaboration between the University of Botswana and Chinese Embassy.
Mr Zhao was speaking during a courtesy call he paid the Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, at the University of Botswana on December 15, 2017. He said through the University of Botswana there was a lot that Botswana and China could do together to expand their economies.
Mr Zhao said one for the areas that Botswana and China could learn from each other was in the tourism sector. He said China has a vibrant tourism sector and could teach Batswana how to develop theirs to generate more income. The Ambassador added that figures showed that millions of Chinese tourist visited more than 150 countries lately.
He expressed their desire for the University of Botswana to work together with the Chinese Embassy through cultural exchanges to expand their collaboration. He added that the Embassy was also ready to train Batswana in different sectors of the economy.
In response, Professor Norris said he was delighted and honoured to have the Chinese Ambassador for discussions and sharing of ideas, and there was a lot UB could learn from China.
Professor Norris said his aim was to reposition UB so that it had more impact on society and that was only possible if it forged partnerships with different stakeholders. In addition, he said UB must position itself as one of the drivers of Botswana’s economic diversification process.
He observed that a lot of institutions of higher learning around the world were financially squeezed hence for the University of Botswana to become self-sustaining it must come up with innovative ways of turning its research findings into products and services.
As such, Professor Norris observed that since Chinese universities were not 100 per cent reliant on government funding, the University of Botswana could take a leaf from them and “we will be knocking on your door for assistance”. That, he added, was because the University of Botswana played a pivotal role in the development of Botswana and that could be attested by the fact that almost everyone in leadership went through the University.