Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
Cairo, Egypt-Due to the mission’s budgetary constraints the Namibian ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Egypt, Japhet Isaack, says he has been unable to present his credentials to other governments in the region.
Speaking to New Era recently, Isaack said that so far he has only been able to present his credentials to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, but he was planning to present his credentials to other countries once the mission’s budget improves.
Isaack, whose office is based in Egypt, Cairo represents Namibia in Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia.
He said that after presenting his credentials to the UAE last year, negotiations were underway between the two countries that could see the signing of a number of memorandums of understanding.
Isaack added that although he has limited staff due to the mission’s budgetary constraints his team is working around the clock to keep Namibia on the map to enable Egyptians to see Namibia as a tourist and investment destination.
“Next month I plan to host a dinner for business people in Egypt at my own cost so that we can present our country’s tourism and investment opportunities to Egyptian business people,” he said.
On trade relations and trade volume between Egypt and Namibia, Isaack said that currently there is no active relationship between Namibia and Egypt and hence no trade volumes that he could talk about.
Isaack said Namibia and Egypt have an excellent and longstanding political ties.
“Egypt was among the first countries to recognise Namibia as an independent nation and since then several agreements were signed that include the agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations, signed in May 1990, and the memorandum of understanding on diplomatic consultation signed in 2006 that is currently in force,” he said, adding that the list goes on.
Isaack encouraged Namibians to explore the several educational opportunities being presented by the Egyptian government.
“Egypt is ready to help many African countries to overcome challenges such as agriculture, health and security among others.”