The Botswana Minister of Energy, Minerals & Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, has met with the newly elected AWDC Board of Directors and members of the Antwerp diamond community, and the two sides pledged to strenghthen their mutual relationship. The meeting took place during a visit by the minister to Belgium.

 
The Botswana officials also visited the AWDC Diamond Office, the ‘one-stop shop’ import/export clearing office of diamonds which is operated together with the Belgian Federal Public Service of Economy and the Belgian Federal Public Service of Finance.
 
Kedikilwe and AWDC leaders stated their willingness to create closer relations between Antwerp and Botswana through complementary activities. The sides said they were interested in creating comprehensive cooperation between Antwerp and the emerging Botswana diamond centre in the capital city of Gaborone.
 
Botswana is the biggest rough diamond producer in the world in value terms, with around $2 billion in exports annually, although that figure fell last year due to reduced output in light of a fall in global demand. Most of Botswana's rough diamonds are exported to the European Union, via De Beers' Diamond Trading Company.