India urges Namibia to remove investment hurdles

India on Wednesday urged Namibia to remove investment hurdles as it was keen to invest in the mining sector of the African country.

The issue was raised by India's Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar with his Namibian counterpart Obeth Kandjoze.

"There are several Indian companies that want to invest in Namibia in minerals sector. However, difficulties in obtaining work permits and requirement of South African transit visa are hindering the process," Tomar said in the meeting.

The Namibian minister assured that his government was taking all possible steps to remove these hurdles.

Kandjoze, visiting India to attend the India Africa Forum Summit 2015, explained how Namibia intended to encourage sustainable mining and sought cooperation from India in research and development and technology development.

Tomar urged the visiting minister to complete the ratification formalities to operationalise an agreement on cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy.

In 2009, India and Namibia signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the fields of geology and mineral resources. A joint working group was also constituted to take things forward.

"Both the ministers agreed that the MoU implementation needs to be expedited and the next meeting of the joint working group has to be held at the earliest," an official statement said.