Namibia Seeks Indian Investment In Ssis

Namibian President Sam Nujoma yesterday called upon Indian industrialists to invest in Namibia, especially in the small-scale sector. Speaking at a meeting with Indian businessmen organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as part of the ongoing Indian Engineering Trade Fair, the Namibian President pointed out that his government provides generous incentives to foreign investors.

Under the export processing zone programme, manufacturers are able to produce tax-free products for export, while repatriating their profits fully, said Nujoma, adding that corporate tax in Namibia had been reduced to 35 per cent and the government would strive to reduce it even further.

 

Calling upon Indian businessmen to establish a meaningful relationship with their Namibian counterparts, Nujoma expressed the hope that such links would help Namibian businessmen to learn from the experience of their Indian counterparts.

Namibia could benefit a great deal from Indias experience in developing small-scale industries (SSI), said Nujoma, adding that the sector contributed only five per cent of his countrys gross domestic product at present.

Although a large number of Namibians are involved in informal market activities that make up for the countrys small-scale industry sector, they have been operating in a vacuum as far as institutional and legal frameworks are concerned, lamented Nujoma.

However, our government has embarked on a policy to formalise the operations of the small-scale and informal markets by adopting a framework through which they can operate, he added.

The Namibian President said his country could not achieve meaningful economic development unless the small-scale industry sector became part and parcel of the macro-economic planning and development strategy.

Therefore, Namibia had recently drawn up a comprehensive policy on the small-scale industries sector.

Upon its implementation, the policy will provide financial and professional support to small-scale entrepreneurs in the areas of finance, marketing, technology transfer, purchasing and marketing, he said.

Nujoma also felt that Namibia could learn from India in the field of technology transfer. Your country has developed a multitude of home-grown technologies that are especially applicable to, and appropriate for, developing nations, he said.

During a subsequent question-answer session, Namibian minister for agriculture Helmut Angula said his country offered vast scope for agricultural development.

He expressed Namibias interest in studying Indias grain-storage facilities.

We have targeted Asia, which does not exclude India, for export of ostrich products and beef, he said, adding that Indian businesspersons could join hands with Namibian entrepreneurs to raise agricultural products.

Earlier, Confederation of Indian Industry president Shekhar Datta said in his welcome speech that the organisation would be happy to extend a hand of partnership to Namibia in areas such as technology upgradation, energy conservation, food processing and the auto component sector.