By William Mbangula Oshakati The Oshana Region will soon be sending to the Limpopo Province of South Africa small and medium entrepreneurs with potential to explore manufacturing business opportunities. This was announced by the Governor of Oshana, Clemens Kashuupulwa, when he addressed participants at the launch of the Oshana Business Forum recently. The forum, which is the brainchild of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) and sponsored mainly by the First National Bank (FNB), was called to create a platform for the main stakeholders in the economy of the region. At such platform they are expected to share ideas, experiences, expectations, aspirations, challenges and some frustrations they may encounter in their day-to-day business activities. Indeed, some of the business people present made use of the opportunities to advance their interests by criticizing the government for not protecting them, as is the case in America and Europe. They claimed that the government allows its citizens to be destroyed business-wise by allowing them to compete with State companies of other countries. More specifically, some concerns were raised with regard to the Chinese in the construction industry. The Governor told his audience that the Regional Council has finalized discussions on its economic and business ties with the Limpopo provincial Government. At the moment, the regional authority in Oshana is trying to link local entrepreneurs with their counterparts in South Africa. Said the Governor: “Soon we are to send potential small and medium entrepreneurs to Limpopo Province prior to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on economic and cultural ties between the Limpopo Provincial Government and Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena and Oshikoto Regions.” According to the Governor, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has also finalized negotiations with the South African Government for the signing of the MoU on cultural and economic ties. As part of the MoU content of the MTI, good manufacturing products and favourable opportunities for local business people have been created. This means that local business people will have to enter into joint ventures with foreign investors. Heavy manufacturing industries with appropriate technology, said the Governor, are needed in Namibia in order to create a friendly global business environment that equally benefits the local entrepreneurs. The governor, who recently returned from a visit to South Africa, noted: “We need to use these opportunities by exposing ourselves to appropriate manufacturing technologies with Limpopo business counterparts so as to break the existing vicious cycle of depending on retail goods from South Africa, Europe and Asia.” Only last year a high-level delegation, led by a member of the Limpopo Provincial Executive Committee on Economic and Tourism, Colin Chabane, visited the four northern Regions of Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena and Oshikoto to explore business opportunities through which the two countries can share and promote common economic interests. He also brought many business people from his country who participated in the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair.