Lazare Kaplan Botswana managing director Alfred Dube has been invited by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to participate as Botswana’s representative to the “Global Business Conference,” a high-level gathering of world business leaders in in Washington, D.C., according to a statement from LKI.

The invitation is in recognition of Dube’s standing within the Botswana business community, following service as his country’s ambassador to the United Nations. It also reflects Lazare Kaplan’s role in pioneering American investment in Botswana, dating back to LKI’s opening of the first large-scale diamond beneficiation venture in the country independent of De Beers.

The “Global Business Conference,” schedules for Feb. 21- 22, brings together one business representative from each participating country to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and senior officials from U.S. agencies such as OPIC, the Export-Import Bank and the Department of Commerce. The meeting aims to develop stronger ties between the U.S. private sector, U.S. business support organizations, the U.S. government, and the domestic business communities of participating nations.

JCK