WINDHOEK- President Hage Geingob during his four-day visit to Portugal for the Horasis Global Meeting was centered on building investor confidence and promoting Namibia as a country with a favourable business environment and destination of choice for international businesses and investors.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), exports from Namibia to Portugal in 2017 were valued at N$445 million while imports were worth N$326 million.
Press Secretary in the presidency Dr Alfredo Hengari said Geingob invited global businesses to invest in Namibia, a country he said is governed by rule of law and which has a sound governance structure, and macro-economic stability.
Geingob also spoke about difficult austerity decisions government took due to negative economic growth during the last two years, and accelerating the fight against corruption.
Besides the investment drive, Geingob also held bilateral talks with the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, where he emphasised stronger ties for economic development and fighting youth unemployment in Namibia.
The Namibian Head of State participated as one of key invitees of the Global Meeting convened in Cascais, Portugal, held under the theme “Catalysing the Benefits of Globalisation”, held from April 6 to 9.
As part of Namibia’s investment drive, President Geingob was accompanied by government ministers and a business delegation from several sectors, including health, renewable energy, fishing and agribusiness.
During their talks, Hengari said Geingob shared with de Sousa how the country is intensifying efforts to develop the economy in order to fight poverty and unemployment, specifically the challenges facing the youth.
The President said although the Portuguese community in Namibia was small, its contribution to economic development is noteworthy.
In response to Namibia’s role as chairperson of Sadc, Geingob highlighted the difficult journey the region travelled over the past few months, with elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar, and most recently the Union of the Comoros.
He singled out the DRC as having been challenging, and emphasised the mere fact that elections took place in a climate of relative calm without major casualties was in itself a significant achievement.
In addition, Geingob also touched on the impacts of climate change and updated his counterpart about Namibia’s support to Mozambique after Cyclone Idai, and the regional efforts undertaken in providing humanitarian assistance to the countries affected by disaster.
Geingob confirmed that he shall launch a Regional Appeal for Humanitarian Assistance in Response to Tropical Cyclone Idai today.
The President affirmed Namibia’s commitment to a multilateral order and international solidarity, while expressing concern about big powers not being open to the world.
The head of State encouraged Portuguese businesses to form joint ventures with Namibian companies.