Her Excellency Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic of Namibia,

Honorable Charles Mubita, Minister in the Presidency,

Honorable Kadiva Hamutumwa, Governor of Ohangwena Region,

His Worship Darius Shaalukeni, Mayor of Helao Nafidi Town Council,

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

It’s my great pleasure to attend this Inauguration Ceremony of Ohangwena Time Square Complex at the kind invitation of His Worship Mayor Shaalukeni, and I am so honored that Her Excellency President Ndaitwah is also with us today.

First, I wish to extend my warmest congratulations to the Council and people of Helao Nafidi Town on the successful completion of this important project, a latest major development of commercial infrastructure in the heroic land of Helao Nafidi and Ohangwena.

It’s indeed encouraging to learn that this landmark project will help transform the commercial landscape in this area by providing new opportunities for the development of local micro and small businesses and creating more jobs for the general public.

I am also delighted that this complex was developed by a Chinese enterprise. As I know, some Chinese business people have been living in Namibia for many years and forged close friendship with the local communities. I hope they will contribute more to the development of Namibia, their second home.

Standing here at this brand-new shopping centre, I can see the promising future of the rural development in the vast country of Namibia, and I firmly believe that, under the strong leadership of President Ndaitwah, Namibia will for sure accelerate its national development and embark on the path toward economic prosperity vigorously in the years to come.

As Chinese Ambassador, I am also deeply honored and encouraged that H.E. President Ndaitwah paid a very successful state visit to China last month. During the visit, H.E. President Xi Jinping and H.E. President Ndaitwah held fruitful talks and jointly decided to elevate the bilateral relations to a China-Namibia Community with a shared future for the new era, bringing China-Namibia relations to a new height.

I wish to tell our Namibian friends this visit has injected unprecedented strong impetus to the deepening of China-Namibia economic cooperation. Both sides committed to leverage their respective development advantages and further expand mutually beneficial cooperation across various sectors, and China pledged to strengthen cooperation with Namibia in the seven priority areas identified by President Ndaitwah through technical cooperation, technology transfer, project partnership and development-oriented collaboration.

There are many concrete achievements in terms of economic cooperation and trade as outcomes of this visit. For example, through this visit, we have added table grapes and wild aquatic products to the list of Namibia’s agricultural exports to China. The Chinese side will adopt more measures to ensure Namibia fully benefit from the zero-tariff treatment offered by China to all African countries having diplomatic relations with China.

In particular, I wish to emphasize that this visit will encourage Chinese investment in Namibia’s industrialization and agricultural modernization in a way more forceful than ever before.

In this regard, I think we should all commend H.E. President Ndaitwah for her tireless engagement with the Chinese enterprises during the state visit. It’s no exaggeration to say President Ndaitwah has used almost every single minute available in meeting with Chinese companies to promote Namibia’s investment opportunities. I am sure we will witness a lot of new Chinese investment in Namibia because of President Ndaitwah’s leadership and efforts.

Please allow me to use this opportunity to assure President Ndaitwah and our Namibian friends that the Chinese side stands ready to work closely with the Namibian side to implement the fruitful outcomes of the visit so as to translate what has been agreed into real projects and bring tangible benefits to our two peoples. Actually, the implementation has already started. With the joint efforts of both sides, we are going to hear more good news of our bilateral cooperation in the coming months and years.

In conclusion, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish Helao Nafidi Town and Ohangwena Region as well as the people in this area even greater development and prosperity. Thank you.