OFFICIAL ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY HONOURABLE DR. THABISO MOLAPO
AT THE OPERATIONALISATION OF THE LESOTHO STANDARDS INSTITUTION (LSI)
MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
PREMISES
Wednesday, 16th September 2020
Let me pay my respects to:
• His Majesty, King Letsie III;
• The Right Honourable the Prime Minister, Dr. Moeketsi Majoro;
• Honourable Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Mathibeli Mokhothu;
• The President of the Senate;
• The Speaker of the National Assembly;
• The Chief Justice;
• Honourable Ministers;
• Senior Government Officials;
• Representatives of Media Houses;
• Distinguished Guests;
• Ladies and Gentlemen.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Representatives of Media Houses,
On behalf of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and indeed on my
behalf, it gives me great pleasure to finally announce
operationalisation of the Lesotho Standards Institution (LSI). LSI is
the national standards body of Lesotho which is mandated to:
• develop and publish national standards;
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• carry out testing activities;
• certification and inspection services;
• conduct training to capacitate our industry; and
• indeed, support public policy and regulation to protect our
society.
Countries around the world have taken different approaches in
shaping their national standards bodies. Our story is shaped by
rigorous studies and consultations; leading us to a model that is
unique and best suited for our economy. We deliberately used a mix
of the modern world, benchmarking against the likes of Sweden and
Iceland in Europe; while at the same time putting it in context by
studying models used by our counterparts in the SADC region –
Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mauritius.
It is my strongest believe, therefore that LSI has assumed the best
model, to purposely respond swiftly to the needs of private sector.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Representatives of Media Houses,
The establishment of LSI marks one of my Ministries greatest
milestones. For some of you who have shared and followed our story,
you will agree with me that it has indeed been an arduous journey.
The LSI Act was published in 2014. I was duly informed that
thereafter, several attempts were made to make LSI operational.
You will agree with me that 2020 presented challenges that stretched
our economy to the limit; with dire consequences on livelihoods of
many. The Ministry of Trade and Industry, together with its partners
and stakeholders have been working tirelessly to assist Government to
implement its plan of creating jobs mainly through private sector-led
initiatives. To begin with; our Ministry has secured markets for our
products, to mention but a few, under
• Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
• Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA)
• And the newly implemented Continental Africa Free Trade Area
It is paramount therefore that we use LSI to its fullest extent possible
so as to secure our share in the vast African market and beyond.
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This move is in line with priorities stipulated in the 2020/21 budget
speech aimed at growing the economy by increasing production of
high value products for export. The National Strategic Development
Plan (NSDP II) purposely sets a new outlook for Lesotho’s economy,
putting more emphasis on developing export furniture led trade. For this
reason, creation of the LSI is much more important, now more than
ever before.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Representatives of Media Houses,
It goes without saying that LSI is long overdue; as you can attest that
many Basotho are making significant strides in manufacturing. With
LSI in place, we expect to significantly reduce compliance costs, which
are especially burdensome for small producers. There are a number of
products in agro-processing such as dried fruits and
vegetables, wines, soups, juices, dairy products, and other
products such as bottled water, leather products, handicrafts,
garments and many more. Furthermore, in the service sector;
services such as testing, banking and consultancies offered by
Basotho owned businesses; also need support from LSI.
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Let me conclude by pledging my support and most importantly our
Government’s support towards ensuring that LSI will deliver on its
mandate. I would also like to thank my predecessors for laying the
groundwork for LSI’s success.
KHOTSO!!! PULA!!! NALA!!!