New Era Newspaper

New Era Epaper
Icon Collap
...
Home / Private sector the driver for effective and efficient policies

Private sector the driver for effective and efficient policies

2020-07-30  Staff Reporter

Private sector the driver for effective and efficient policies

Maihapa Ndjavera

Minister of Industrialisation and Trade, Lucia Iipumbu, says the state needs to be fully aware of the private sector’s needs, its potential as well as any major obstacles if it wants to develop and execute policies effectively and efficiently.
Iipumbu made the comments yesterday when officially launching three projects under her ministry, supported by GIZ-Promotion of Business Advisory and Economic Transformation Services. The projects are the 2019/2020 Private Sector Development Survey (PSDS), the Namibian Manufacturers Association Directory 2020, and the Directorate of Industrial Development Enterprise Support System (DIDESS).
She said the three projects bring together important elements for the industrialisation efforts of an economy, namely, information on the economic and business environment in Namibia, availability of information for all stakeholders involved and adequate, improved and accelerated service provision.

Delving deeper into the three projects, the Private Sector Development Survey covers over 600 businesses in all regions. It treats various areas such as  economic agents’ perception towards the prevailing business conditions, their currents challenges and investment appetite. 
The survey was conducted between January and March 2020 (just before the state of emergency was declared). A variety of areas were covered, such as the general economic conditions, obstacles to business growth, access to serviced and unserviced land, business registration, and others.

“The PSDS provides the government with important information on the key elements that are to be addressed through policies and interventions. At the same time, it sheds light on opportunities for private sector entities, investors and other stakeholders, locally as well as internationally,” said Iipumbu.
According to the trade minister, the key constraints identified in the survey such as access to services and unserviced land and access to finance continue to receive the attention of the government. 

“At the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade, it is our key resolve to ensure that we continue to roll out key industrial infrastructure such as SME and industrial parks.”
The second project is the Manufacturing and Processing Directory 2020. The directory provides detailed information and contacts on nearly all stakeholders involved in the manufacturing sector. All kinds of manufactures and processors from different subsectors and sizes are profiled. 

The directory not only services valuable information for service seekers but also connects providers within Namibia. The directorate furthermore promotes and facilitates the consumption of and investment into locally produced goods and services.
Lastly, the DIDESS aims to automate all processes and eliminate manual or human interventions. Using digitalising business registration, certificate application and filing, and many other processes, the enterprise support system paves the way towards more efficient and accurate service delivery.

At the same time, DIDESS provides the public sector a digital monitoring tool on the performance, outreach and usage of numerous support tools and programs, which is important for any private sector needs assessment, according to the minister. 
Local economist Klaus Schade said implementing e-government on a large scale will not only ease registering a business or paying taxes, but will improve the quality of service delivery and can reduce corruption because of increased transparency and electronic records. – mndjavera@nepc.com.na

The launch of the kiosk is a precursor for a comprehensive regional rollout in all trade ministry offices across all 14 regions. Iipumbu said the ministry will continue to upgrade and broaden the horizons for the utilisation of DIDESS. 
-– mndjavera@nepc.com.na

 

 


2020-07-30  Staff Reporter

Tags: Khomas
Share on social media