Edgar Brandt
WINDHOEK – President of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), Sven Thieme, yesterday called on foreign investors to be cognisant of the welfare of Namibians and their environment, and to propose mutually beneficial investments. Thieme was speaking at a one-day Namibia-China investment summit organised by the NCCI.
“The NCCI is working closely with the government to attract purposeful and sustainable investment,” Thieme told the visiting Chinese delegation that is comprised of 54 members from both businesses and government. The delegation’s investment mission is in response to an invitation, extended when President Hage Geingob visited China in March this year.
“To attract these types of investments, we have to focus on initiatives that concentrate on value addition, skills transfer, and employment. It is critical to add value locally because the mere exchange of raw materials for money will not benefit the local economy in the medium to long-term,” said Thieme.
Namibia’s ambassador to China, Elia Kaiyamo, told summit delegates that the potential Chinese investors are particularly interested in infrastructure, agriculture, fishing, energy production, information technology, market access, and trade. Kaiyamo further warned both Chinese and Namibian business people to refrain from corruption, and to conduct business in good faith.
Also speaking at the summit, Chinese ambassador to Namibia, Zhang Yiming, said Namibia is known throughout the world as a ‘mini-Switzerland’ because it is not the typical African country. Speaking through an interpreter, Yiming noted that Namibia is experiencing a stressful economic stage, and therefore called on Chinese business people to focus their investments on poverty alleviation, job creation, and agricultural modernisation.
“Through bi-lateral agreements, we can uplift Namibia, and we consider it a Chinese duty as a friend of Namibia to assist in achieving development goals,” said Yiming. He also suggested that the NCCi increases cooperation with Chinese businesses to boost collaboration between the two countries.