(November 14, 2024, Chinese Embassy)

Mr. Sikongo Haihambo, Executive Director of the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade and our guest of honor this evening,

Mrs. Ingenesia Zaamwani-Kamwi, Presidential Advisor on Private Sector Interface Constitutional Affairs,

Mr. James Mnyupe, Presidential Economic Advisor and Green Hydrogen Commissioner，

All the Namibian Government Officials Present,

All the Representatives of the Business Community,

Friends of the Media,

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening!

I am so delighted to welcome all our distinguished guests to the Chinese Embassy this evening for the 2024 China-Namibia business networking reception. As you may know, we started this annual event last year.

It’s my honor that so many senior Namibian Government officials are with us this evening. I am thankful to Mr. Haihanbo, Executive Director of the Ministry of Industrialization and Trade, our guest of honor for this evening and also for the reception last year. I thank all of you for your kind attendance.

My speech today may be longer than usual, since I think this is a very important occassion and there is so much I want to share with our friends.

We host this annual event, because we are keen to engage with our friends of the local business community. We want to use this occassion to tell our friends that China values its economic relations with Namibia, and we sincerely welcome you, both Chinese and Namibian entrepreneurs, to participate in our bilateral trade and economic cooperation. We also want to tell our friends that the Chinese Embassy is more than happy to offer our service and play an even bigger role in promoting China-Namibia economic relations.

This event will also provide a platform for the local Chinese and Namibian business communities to engage with each other. Just now, we have heard the representatives of the business communities introducing their respective organizations and their views on our bilateral cooperation. I do hope to see deeper integration of the Chinese enterprises with the local Namibian business community.  

Distinguished guests, as we gather here, we have a lot to celebrate in terms of the achievements in our bilateral economic relations this year.

We have seen the acquisition of Osino Gold Mine and the Tsumeb Smelter by China’s Shanjin International Gold and Sinomine (Hong Kong) Rare Metals Resources. We have heard the plan of establishing a joint desalination plant by Swakop Uranium and the Namwater as well as the announcement by the China’s Envision Energy to invest in Namibia’s green hydrogen. We have also learned that Xinfeng company has established its lithium processing plant in Namibia.

In terms of bilateral trade, it reached 1.3 billion US dollars last year, and by September this year, it has grown to 1.4 billion US dollars. During the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), our two sides have signed the agreement for China to import Namibia’s lamb meat.

Distinguished guests, the Embassy’s Office for Commercial and Economic Affairs found themselves much busier than before, because more business people come to knock on our doors. Many Chinese companies have expressed their interest of investment in Namibia, while a lot of Namibian companies are seeking Chinese partners.  

As Chinese Ambassador, I am deeply encouraged by the strong momentum in our economic relations, and it’s my gut feeling that we are going to witness a big leap in the years to come. There are good reasons to be optimistic.

First of all, China will continue to serve as a key engine of global economy. We will offer the world with an even bigger consumer market and the Chinese companies will continue to invest globally.

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded in July was no doubt a new milestone in promoting China’s development in the new era, which has adopted a historic resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.

Over 300 major reform measures in the fields of economy, politics, culture, society and others will be accomplished by 2029 when we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2029.

We are determined to realize the Chinese modernization which aims to achieve common prosperity for all people, coordinate material and spiritual civilization, foster harmony between humanity and nature, and follow a path of peaceful development.

As an important task of advancing Chinese modernization, we will push forward a high-standard opening up focused on expanding institutional openness. We will deepen reforms in foreign trade systems, foreign investment and outbound investment management systems, optimize regional openness layouts, and improve mechanisms for high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The message from China is clear. We will open our doors even wider to the world. We believe in a community with a shared future for mankind. We are ready to work together with all the countries to build a better world.

Recently, we have heard some pessimistic views about China's economy. It’s true, our economy is facing downward pressure. Yet, the economic fundamentals which will sustain long-term growth remain unchanged, and the trend toward high-quality development continues to develop.

In spite of external uncertainties and internal structural challenges, in the first half of this year, China’s GDP grew by 5% year-on-year. I also give you some other figures to indicate the resilience of China’s economy.  In 2023, China's share of global exports was 14.5%, an increase of 1.7% compared to 2017. China's added value of manufacturing has maintained a high share of 30% of the global total, holding the top position for 14 consecutive years.

Since September, having taken stock of the current economic situation, the Chinese Government has adopted a series of new measures to increase fiscal support, stabilize real estate market, boost capital market, stimulate domestic consumption and secure employment, which have been well received by the market and the people. We are confident to achieve the annual economic and social development goals and tasks.

The second reason for my optimism about China-Namibia economic cooperation is the enormous potential of development that Namibia holds. Some of our Namibian friends are often too humble when discussing about Namibia’s economy, focusing too much on the challenges and not paying enough attention to the available conduisive conditions.  

In spite of a population of 3 million, Namibia is not a small country at all with the fact that it’s the 34th largest country in the world in terms of land size, and this vast land is endowed with abundant natural resources. Namibia has long been well known for its rich mineral resources, and recently it has attracted the attention of the world as a potential major oil producer in Africa. With its exceptional wind and solar resources, Namibia enjoys unique advantages in developing green hydrogen and we have already seen tangible progress in this regard.

What’s equally or maybe more important for the international investors is the favorable investment environment of Namibia. As we all know, Namibia has established sophisticated political and legal systems to ensure rule of law and social stability. I read in the local newspaper some time ago that a banking institution’s report put Namibia in the 18th place on the African continent in terms of investment attractiveness. In my opinion, Namibia should have been placed much ahead in the ladder.

When we talk about the potential of Namibia, we should remind ourselves that even the challenges Namibia is facing with can bring us the opportunities of development. To realize industrialization and agricultural modernization, Namibia needs to significantly improve its infrastructure across all the sectors of social and economic development. So long as there is the need, there will be the investment opportunity.   

Distinguished guests, I am optimistic about the prospect of China-Namibia economic relations, also because the recent 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the FOCAC, has brought golden opportunities for our bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the summit that, in the next three years, China will work with Africa to take ten partnership actions for modernization, most of which related with economic cooperation. Let me share with you some of the highlights.

China will sign framework agreements on economic partnership for shared development with interested African countries, expand access for agricultural exports from Africa, and deepen China-Africa e-commerce cooperation. 

China will support Africa in developing local value chain, manufacturing and deep processing of critical minerals, build growth circles for China-Africa industrial cooperation in five regions and undertake 10 supporting projects of industrial parks for African countries.

China is prepared to carry out 30 infrastructure connectivity projects in Africa, promote together high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and put in place a China-Africa network featuring land-sea links and coordinated development.

China is ready to launch 30 clean energy projects in Africa, put in place meteorological early warning systems, and carry out cooperation in disaster prevention, mitigation and relief as well as biodiversity conservation.

We will also create a China-Africa forum on peaceful use of nuclear technology, establish together 30 joint laboratories, and collaborate on satellite remote sensing and lunar and deep-space exploration.

Distinguished guests, there are indeed a lot we can do together in the years to come to advance China-Namibia economic relations. We can cooperate in all the areas. At the official level, the relevant government ministries and agencies of our two countries can further strengthen communication in mapping out the blueprint and providing policy guidance for bilateral cooperation. At the corporate level, the Chinese and Namibian companies can also become more proactive. At the end of the day, they are the key players in moving the wheels of our bilateral economic cooperation.

 Before I conclude, I wish to say a few words on the tourism cooperation between our two countries. According to the Tourist Statistical Report 2023 of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism of Namibia, in 2023, Namibia received 3046 tourist arrivals from China. I will give you another figure released by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. According to them, 51,952 Chinese tourists visited Zimbabwe last year. So, this is indeed a big difference. I sincerely hope we can work together to narrow this difference. China has a population of 1.4 billion people. More Chinese tourists come to Namibia will benefit your economy.

Distinguished guests, thank you again for your patience in listening to my lengthy remarks. Sorry for keeping you from your meal. I will conclude here and wish you a good appetite as you enjoy the buffet dinner that follows. Thank you.