Ms. Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati, Executive Director of Ministry of International Relations and Trade,
Ms. Julia Mwetudhana, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB),
Ms. Xie Huirong, Vice President of Guangdong Committee of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade,
Mr. Luo Wei, President of the Association of Chinese Enterprises in Namibia,
All Namibian Government Officials Present,
Members of the Guangdong delegations,
Representatives of the Business Community and Friends from the Media,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon!
It is my great pleasure to be at NIPDB again to attend the Namibia-China (Guangdong Province) Business Forum. NIPDB is a key promoter and facilitator for Namibia’s investment cooperation with other countries. For Chinese companies which have the interest of investing in Namibia, my advice is, please knock on the door of the NIPDB first. NIPDB is the right place to start with.
I am very happy to welcome the Guangdong Friendship Delegation to visit Namibia together with relevant business delegations, which is a follow-up to the successful state visit to China by H.E. Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, President of the Republic of Namibia in July. President Ndaitwah chose Guangdong Province as the first stop of her landmark visit to China, where President Ndaitwah met with Honorable Mr. Huang Kunming, Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee having an in-depth discussion on Namibia-Guangdong economic cooperation. Therefore, the Guangdong delegations’ visit this time is the first step taken by the Province to implement the consensus reached between the President and the Provincial leader at their meeting in Guangzhou.
It’s the first time for almost all of the Guangdong delegation members to be in Namibia, but I am sure this will be just the beginning of their many future visits. As a diplomat based here for almost 4 years, I think I am in a good position to tell all the newcomers to this beautiful country that Namibia is indeed a wonderful place for them to invest in.
Namibia is well known for its abundant natural resources, yet more importantly, it enjoys a sophisticated legal system and stable political and social environment. The Namibian government has always attached high importance in attracting foreign investment, and, under the leadership of President Ndaitwah, new measures have been taken to further boost the confidence of international investors including the recently announced policy of relaxing regulations on the issuance of working visas.
It’s especially encouraging for the Chinese business that during her visit in China, President Ndaitwah has emphasized the message on many occasions that Namibia welcomes greater Chinese investment and the President herself met with representatives of more than 30 Chinese companies out of her busy visiting schedule.
Equally encouraging is that the Namibian Government has adopted its Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6), the blueprint for an ambitious social and economic development, and is advancing a number of major development projects, which will yield enormous business opportunities for international companies including the Chinese enterprises.
As our Namibian friends may know, Guangdong is China's largest provincial economy and a leading hub of China’s reform and opening up to the outside world. It has highly developed industrial and supply chains, strong innovation capabilities and a robust foreign trade sector, and is home to a large number of highly competitive enterprises. Huawei and China General Nuclear Power Group, the parent company of Husab mine, are all based in Guangdong.
The three Guangdong companies visiting Namibia this time and present at this event, Guangdong Agribusiness Group Corporation, Guangdong Hengjian Investment Holding Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Rising Holdings Group Co., Ltd., are all top-performing enterprises with strong capabilities in the Province especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and financing. I sincerely hope that, through this Forum, relevant companies of our two countries will know each other better and continue to explore the opportunities of business collaboration in future engagements.
China-Namibia economic cooperation will surely embrace an even more promising future as inspired by President Ndaitwah’s historic visit to China and alongside the development of the China-Namibia Community with a Shared Future for the New Era under the strategic guidance of our Heads of State. Also, China's zero-tariff treatment for African countries has provided unprecedented opportunity for strengthening our bilateral economic cooperation, which I hope our two business communities will make full use of.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the Ministry of International Relations and Trade and NIPDB for facilitating the visit of the Guangdong delegations to Namibia. In particular, I thank the NIPDB for organizing this event and for all their efforts in promoting China-Namibia business cooperation. I also thank the Guangdong delegations for visiting Namibia and all our Namibian and Chinese companies present for their support to this event.
Thank you.