Benefits of regional integration

WINDHOEK – Namibia should determine its priorities among the competing demands of participating in various regional integration arrangements.

In his presentation at the seventh annual symposium of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) under the theme ‘ The Benefits of Regional Integration for Smaller Economies’ here on Thursday, Paul Kalenga from the Law Centre of Southern Africa said effective participation in the new Southern African Customs Union (SACU) arrangement is definitely an immediate priority. He said this is largely so because it is SACU that informs Namibia’s policy and strategy of integrating into the global economy.”The establishment of domestic policy and institutional capacity to engage the SACU regime, the building of requisite technical expertise for such engagement and an urgent focus on improving the collection and analysis of trade data are in my opinion immediate priorities for Namibia,” Kalenga said.According to him, SACU countries have recognised the benefits of more open economies, and they have an aggressive agenda of concluding trading arrangements with major trading partners.Namibia must maintain the country’s macro-economic policy credibility, which has largely been supported by participation in the Common Monetary Area (CMA) arrangement and relates to the importance of price stability through fiscal and monetary discipline.As long as the CMA arrangement continues to support these goals, its relevance to the domestic economy is likely to be superior to a flexible exchange rate option, Kalenga said, adding that a move towards transforming the CMA arrangement into a full-fledged monetary union may further enhance its usefulness as an instrument of fostering a common economic space.He said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) integration agenda remains vital to Namibia in as far as its original infrastructure development programmes are concerned.These would lead to a reduction of trade transaction costs in the region, and facilitate exports, primarily of fish and processed products to these countries.-NampaHe said this is largely so because it is SACU that informs Namibia’s policy and strategy of integrating into the global economy.”The establishment of domestic policy and institutional capacity to engage the SACU regime, the building of requisite technical expertise for such engagement and an urgent focus on improving the collection and analysis of trade data are in my opinion immediate priorities for Namibia,” Kalenga said.According to him, SACU countries have recognised the benefits of more open economies, and they have an aggressive agenda of concluding trading arrangements with major trading partners.Namibia must maintain the country’s macro-economic policy credibility, which has largely been supported by participation in the Common Monetary Area (CMA) arrangement and relates to the importance of price stability through fiscal and monetary discipline.As long as the CMA arrangement continues to support these goals, its relevance to the domestic economy is likely to be superior to a flexible exchange rate option, Kalenga said, adding that a move towards transforming the CMA arrangement into a full-fledged monetary union may further enhance its usefulness as an instrument of fostering a common economic space.He said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) integration agenda remains vital to Namibia in as far as its original infrastructure development programmes are concerned.These would lead to a reduction of trade transaction costs in the region, and facilitate exports, primarily of fish and processed products to these countries.-Nampa