Standard Chartered Bank hosted a Chinese Moon Festival dinner for its Chinese customers.
The Chinese Moon Festival starts on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It’s also known as the
Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.
Standard Chartered celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival by hosting a dinner party for their Chinese clientele on Monday.
The Bank’s traditional Chinese celebrations in Botswana are designed to celebrate the growing, mutually-beneficial socio-economic relationship between Africa and China and to enable the Bank to continue to deepen its relationship with its Chinese customer base.
Speaking at the event, CEO Moatlhodi Lekaukau said his Bank is a committed proponent of the socio-economic potential and benefits of the Africa-China trade and investment corridor. “It is clear that there are significant opportunities for trade and collaboration between China and Africa, including Botswana. Botswana has in the last decade seen increased investment from China in important segments such as infrastructure. As a Bank with a strong presence in both countries, we are uniquely positioned to take a leading role in facilitating that trade. We have the benefit of a long history, deep local knowledge and strong product capability to leverage and provide value to our customers.” he commented.
Commenting at the Bank’s Chinese Moon Festival celebrations, Head of Consumer Banking, Duncan Woods noted that our presence in over 150 countries across the world gives us leverage to trade in over 20 major currencies ÔÇô our recent addition being the Chinese RMB. He highlighted that there is no commission on all Telegraphic Transfers for our Consumer Banking and SME customers and that the bank has Chinese speaking Relationship Managers which is an added advantage.
For his part, the Representative from the Chinese Embassy commented on the good bilateral relations between the two countries. 
He stated that trade and investment between the two countries had grown substantially over the years, highlighting that forty years ago trade between the two nations was virtually nonexistent, and today, China is one of Botswana’s major trading partners.┬á
He went on to explain that in 2000, the Chinese government adopted the “Go Global” strategy which encouraged Chinese companies to invest in global businesses and contribute to local economic growth. Since then, more and more Chinese companies have taken an interest in Botswana and the country is now one of the top investment destinations in Africa for China.┬á He highlighted that agriculture, manufacturing, service, and textiles were the main sectors that Chinese customers tended to invest into.┬á “We believe that Chinese companies, with their reputation for efficiency, high quality and strict contract execution in the local market, will continue to contribute to the economic diversification and create more job opportunities for local people.”┬á
He welcomed Standard Chartered initiatives that support the Chinese business community and encouraged the customers present to take advantage of the services available.
The Bank’s Chinese Moon celebrations in Botswana are a further demonstration of the importance Standard Chartered is placing on its African and Chinese businesses. In 2010, Standard Chartered and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), establishing a strategic partnership to explore the joint development of business opportunities both within China and internationally, including in Africa.
The partnership focuses on the increasingly strong China-Africa trade corridors, enabling access for Chinese businesses to international capital markets and financial markets products. In addition, Standard Chartered also opened their new representative office in Angola in 2010, seizing the investment opportunities in the country which is China’s largest trading partner in Africa.
