2018-02-07Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek-The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) has welcomed the “excellent” ratings by the Global Competitiveness Report, published annually by the World Economic Forum on the quality road infrastructure of Namibia. The 2017-2018 rating has placed Namibia at the 31st position amongst 137 countries and maintained its top position among the best 10 in Africa. Namibia ranked at 23rd position in the 2016-2017 report among 138 countries and topped the list of the best 10 in Africa. These ratings mean that Namibia is amongst the countries with the best road infrastructure in the world and at current position, even beats some of the giant economies like China at 42nd position, Italy at 45, India at 55 and Brazil at 103. The NCCI notes that this rating is a result of the past consistent investments and efforts made by Government in line with Vision 2030 ;and it goes to show that when there is a vision to be achieved which is well articulated and backed up by all concerned, then it is possible for a small country like Namibia to attain higher levels of excellence. “This ranking should be viewed as a very significant milestone of our well-planned investments which the Government has been making over the years. This is a welcome development considering that quality road infrastructure has long been believed to be a cornerstone of the economy as it promotes and enhances mobility of people and goods – a critical ingredient to economic growth,” read a statement from NCCI. “There are several other benefits derived from quality road infrastructure that can be listed in this regard, however, the ultimate benefit that the NCCI profoundly commends Government for is the ability to significantly invest in the quality of our road infrastructure to improve the country’s overall competitiveness. The NCCI is cognizant of the fact that such success is also attributed to the invaluable input by the esteemed local industry stakeholders that have joined hands with Government to ensure that Namibia achieves such great success and we would like to equally applaud all of them for such contribution,” stated the NCCI. The Chamber added that government and the private sector should work closely together through public private partnerships to maintain transport and logistics infrastructure in order to stimulate increased economic activities. “As Namibia’s premier voice of business, we would like to urge that the good work and collaboration that has existed between Government and the private sector continues in the future. It is our strongest belief that more success in this area and beyond will be achieved in the coming years if such strong partnerships prevail. We as the Chamber will continuously endeavour to encourage all our constituencies to rally behind Government in investing in both quality road and railway infrastructure because this will ensure that Namibia achieves its full potential, particularly in view of our ambitious dream to become the region’s logistics hub,” NCCI concluded. 2018-02-07Staff Report 2
