Geingob’s trips add value – Ministry

OFFICIAL trips and investment promotions with local businesspeople organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry is part of the ministry’s responsibilities and their value is ‘incalculable’.

Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Malan Lindeque yesterday issued a statement defending the ministry’s business missions abroad, which have come under increasing scrutiny.The matter again surfaced at a Swapo Politburo meeting last month during the report of the committee investigating presidential campaigning by Swapo vice president and Trade and Industry Minister Hage Geingob and Swapo secretary general and Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana. The committee, under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku, said Geingob, among other things, builds his image by taking along members of the business community on foreign trips to solicit their support.Lindeque yesterday said the coordination and planning of these trips are done by the Ministry’s Department of Trade and Commerce, as well as the Namibia Investment Centre through a committee. This committee then recommends names to Geingob.However, ‘as in all other programmes of the ministry, the minister may exercise his prerogative in the finalisation of such arrangements’, Lindeque said.He said close to 80 per cent of companies that have joined the Ministry of Trade and Industry on official business missions abroad since 2010 have paid for the trips themselves. The remaining 20 per cent were small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for which the ministry paid.To date, 476 companies from all 13 regions of Namibia have participated in ‘outward business missions’, Lindeque said. These missions included trips to Australia, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, the US, the United Arab Emirates, Angola and Ghana.The one to Angola had at least 70 delegates which included the governors of Kunene, Omusati, Ohangwena, Otjozondjupa, Omaheke and Kavango.Among the prominent Swapo members on the trip was the party’s regional coordinator for Oshikoto, businessman Armas Amukwiyu.Amukwiyu is believed to be one of the people at the forefront of Geingob’s campaign.Lindeque said delegates may take family and friends along, ‘as long as it does not detract from the mission activities and if they cover the costs themselves’. The same company can also participate in missions as many times as they wish, but have to pay for it themselves, he said.Lindeque said Geingob or his deputy, Tjekero Tweya, generally lead these missions because their presence ‘provides a conducive environment’ for local businesspeople to interact with their foreign counterparts, and enhances confidence and interest among potential investors. Geingob and Tweya also ‘engage in bilateral investment and trade discussions’ at these events, he said.Lindeque said some of the tangible results achieved with these missions include a more than N$350-million joint venture investment of the Hilton Hotels and United Africa Group at the US-Africa Business Forum. A local company, Kambwa Trading CC, secured a new supplier of building materials during the Turkey World Trade Bridge meeting in Istanbul in June 2010, and received the first consignment a month later. Additionally, discussions between the Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) and its partner, Al Dhara Agriculture Company from the United Arab Emirates, at the Annual Investment Conference in Dubai in May 2011 resulted in a re-investment of N$140 million to expand the production and export of dates to the Middle East, Lindeque said. A further example is that at the Commonwealth Business Forum in June 2011 in London, the parastatal TransNamib Holdings and a British-affiliated company, Global Collieries South Africa, entered into an agreement for the annual transport of thousands of tons of iron ore. TransNamib also signed a ten-year agreement at the occasion with Dundee Precious Metals International. This involves the transport of 320 000 tons of sulphuric acid from Tsumeb to uranium mines in the coastal region and of 240 000 tons of copper concentrate from Walvis Bay to Tsumeb. ‘The overall value of networking and promoting understanding of Namibia’s economy, business and opportunities is incalculable,’ Lindeque said. ‘Clearly, the returns by far exceed expenses incurred by Government to organise and facilitate such interactions with the international business community,’ he said.