21 Apr 2022

Followers and fans of American movie star Taylor Perez, mostly teenagers, came in numbers on Wednesday for a meet and greet session with the star at Gaborone’s Masa Hotel.

Perez is in the country at the invitation of Lucara Botswana to help promote Botswana diamonds to international market.

“We want to brand Botswana diamonds and make the world understand that our diamonds are not conflict diamonds,” stated managing director of Lucara Botswana, Ms Naseem Lahri.

She said Perez had the influence that Lucara Botswana was looking for on their target market.

She said the diamond industry had not been doing well hence they wanted to change that.

 Therefore, she said Perez was specifically in Botswana to get him understand the importance of diamonds to Batswana.

Perez, also a movie producer, is currently a cast in the Netflix original movie series, The Kissing Booth.

Lahri said Lucara Botswana could capture the market they were looking for with the extent of following Perez had both locally and internationally.

He has over four million followers on Instagram and over two million on Tiktok.

Sharing the experiences of his stay in Botswana, Perez said it was an honour to have been invited to one of the country’s best mines in the world.

“It has been such an incredible trip to Karowe Mine. I got to appreciate how important diamond mining is in Botswana and how it uplifts, educates and supports communities through the company’s commitment to creating positive economic and social benefits,” Perez said.

He was impressed with Lucara’s investment back into the community’s infrastructure and mapping of the positive legacy in the event the mine closed.

“It is so awe-inspiring, it is true circularity in action.”

On if he would consider shooting any of his future films in Botswana, he said, ‘my trip to Botswana just gave me a completely new perspective on the diamond mining industry worldwide, but especially in Botswana where they put their people first.”

His followers, who were excited to see him, engaged the star regarding their favourite movie The Kissing Booth.

“It was really fun to meet him in person.

We were excited to actually meet someone we only see on television and particularly from The Kissing Booth,” said a thrilled 17-year-old Didintle Masie.

A student at Kingswood College, Masie said Perez was amazing and kind. She said the actor was amazing in the last two series he featured in.

Lahri said besides the diamond mining experience, they also added the tourism aspect as they believed he would take all his Botswana experience to his friends and associates back home, which would be great for the country.

As such, Perez will also get an opportunity to visit Kasane and experience the tourism town. ENDs