WINDHOEK – The High Level Panel on the Economy that is tasked to attract investments worth N$15 billion over the next two years will this week submit its first recommendations to President Hage Geingob ahead of this month’s Economic Growth Summit.
Panel chairperson and veteran economist Johannes !Gawaxab revealed this yesterday when he shared with the media the two-day Economic Growth Summit program.
The two-day summit, scheduled for July 31 to August 1 at Safari Hotel, themed “Economic Revival for Inclusive Growth – Strengthening the Namibia House”, will be officially opened by President Geingob himself.
!Gawaxab, without mentioning the content and the date concerning the panel’s first recommendations to be made to Geingob, said the summit’s objective is, among others, to bring together the private sector, including domestic, regional and international investors, government, organised labour, youth and civil society with the aim to revive the country’s economy.
He said under the theme the summit is a private sector-led initiative, hosted and coordinated by the panel.
Geingob assembled the panel, consisting of economists, CEOs and development planners, earlier this year.
!Gawaxab said the summit will be entirely funded by the private sector.
The preparations for the summit are currently in full swing and the panel will be ready to host local, regional and international participants, the former Old Mutual boss said.
According to !Gawaxab, the plenary and various breakaway sessions, cutting across key growth sectors, will bring together policymakers, investors, key experts (national and international), youth, labour and participants from all 14 regions of the country to engage in arriving at plausible recommendations for Namibia’s economic growth and significantly enhancing job creation.
He said on day one, two plenaries will be held for all participants. Plenary one will unpack the theme: “Economic Revival for Inclusive Growth –Strengthening the Namibia House” while plenary two will focus on infrastructure development (key enabler for Namibia’s industrialisation and development).
In addition to the plenaries, he said, breakaway sessions will be underpinned by the following key thematic areas: employment creation, unleashing the country’s natural resources, leveraging public-private partnerships (PPPs) to revive the economy.
He said extra meetings would include coming up with ideas for affordable housing, manufacturing, promoting Namibia as a preferred investment and tourism destination, energy, ensuring water sufficiency and leveraging economic growth off regional integration.