Embassies high on foreign agenda

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Marco Hausiku on Monday motivated his ministry’s N$388,6 million budget vote in the National Assembly.

The bulk of this amount is for the operational costs of the ministry and its diplomatic missions, while maintenance of its Windhoek headquarters remains high on the agenda.An amount of N$510 000 is to be allocated to the maintenance and renovation of the Windhoek building, Hausiku said, while the replacement of escalators at this building is set to cost N$2,5 million.The ministry’s development budget is expected to be granted N$102 790 000, the largest portion of which, N$77 848 000, is for the purchase and maintenance of diplomatic missions abroad.Bilateral and multilateral agreements will remain priority areas for the ministry, Hausiko said, with N$34,253 million and N$49,888 million set aside for these respectively.