Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare yesterday held a string of extensive meetings with diplomats and senior officials from Iran, Egypt and Indonesia.
The talks focused on trade and bilateral issues between the countries.
During his engagement with the Iranian delegation, Ngurare touched on the importance of further exploring avenues to expand economic and cultural cooperation, with a strong focus on youth empowerment and skills development.
The discussions placed particular emphasis on capacity building for young people.
Ngurare said this area should be expanded to include agriculture, vocational training and other educational fields that can enhance skills development among the youth of both nations.
The meeting was attended by several senior government officials, including justice minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel as well as deputy ministers Dino Ballotti and Jenelly Matundu.
“I urge the relevant officials to work diligently towards fostering strong and mutually beneficial trade relations between Namibia and Iran. Our aim is to further strengthen the longstanding diplomatic ties between the countries, which date back to the support provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran during Namibia’s liberation struggle.
“Additional areas of cooperation will also include the potential export of Namibian beef to Iran, as well as technical collaboration in the establishment of power plants, including facilities for electricity generation through nuclear energy,” said the premier.
Windhoek to Cairo
In his engagement with the Egyptians, Ngurare told Egyptian Ambassador to Namibia Ramia Shawky that the country remains ready and committed to further strengthen the longstanding friendship between the two peoples.
This partnership is rooted in Egypt’s support for Namibia’s liberation struggle in the 1960s and formalised through diplomatic relations in 1990.
Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation across multiple sectors, including in priority areas such as green hydrogen and renewable energy, agriculture and agro-processing, infrastructure development, the medical and pharmaceutical sector, education and capacity building, trade facilitation and value addition.
On regional and international matters, Ngurare reiterated Namibia’s principled stance on respecting territorial integrity and condemned any acts that undermine sovereignty.
He also reaffirmed Namibia’s longstanding support for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.
The meeting was, inter alia, attended by senior government officials, including the deputy ministers of international relations, education, justice, agriculture and land reform.
Indonesia relations
Agriculture, commerce, trade, education, justice, health, fisheries, capacity building, human resource development and cultural cooperation were the main focal points during Ngurare’s interaction with the Indonesian delegation.
The two countries reaffirmed the growing need to review and renew their trade and economic cooperation through strengthening existing trade agreements while looking at the possibility of working out new agreements in various fields.
Indonesian Ambassador to Namibia Mirza Nurhidayat agreed with Ngurare.
He said there is a serious need to revitalise bilateral cooperation frameworks, renew outstanding agreements and deepen collaboration across key sectors.
The focus will be on agriculture, commerce, trade, education, justice, health, fisheries, capacity building and human resource development, as well as cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchange programmes.
Ngurare added that deepening and strengthening high-level political dialogue will be important going forward, especially in view of transforming the historic partnership into a forward-looking and mutually beneficial relationship.
“I recall the historic solidarity between Namibia and Indonesia, particularly Indonesia’s support during the liberation struggle and its role in Namibia’s transition to independence through United Nations Transition Assistance Group in 1989,” he stated.
