‘Let’s improve trade between Nam, Angola’

THE Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) has called for a speedy implementation of the bilateral trade agreement between Namibia and Angola to improve trade between the two countries.

The trade agreement was signed in March 2004 by President Hifikepunye Pohamba and President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and has already been ratified, but awaits implementation. NCCI Chief Executive Officer Tarah Shaanika told journalists at a press briefing in Windhoek on Friday that it was essential that this agreement came into effect as soon as possible if both governments were serious about regional economic development.”The failure to implement this crucial agreement is hampering the growth of trade volumes between our two countries,” said Shaanika.Shaanika was giving a briefing on the NCCI’s regional outreach initiative, which took him and other members of the NCCI management team from the head office in Windhoek to Rundu, Oshakati, Eenhana, Helao Nafidi, Ongwediva, Ondangwa, Outapi and Okahao.The week-long visit was for the NCCI management to meet and discuss issues affecting the business communities in those areas, identify challenges faced by businesspeople and work out ways to address them.Shaanika said his team observed that more work still had to be done when it came to actual trading between Namibia and Angola.He called on the relevant authorities to deal with the slow pace of clearance of goods exported into Angola through the Katwitwi border post, adding this had a negative impact on the trade volumes that go to and fro between the two countries.”If we are serious about regional economic integration in the SADC region, we must work harder to address not only the tariff barriers to trade between and amongst our countries but also the non-tariff barriers including unnecessary bureaucratic procedures at our borders.”He said during the visit his team also noted that significant progress had been made in developing infrastructure on the Angolan side of the Kasamane crossing point, but that much more still needed to be done on the local side, adding that this particular border post had vast potential for Namibian exporters and the country as a whole by means of revenue generation.”We are, therefore, calling on the Namibian Government to seriously consider developing infrastructure at Kasamane and accelerate the process for declaring this point as a border post in order to alleviate the problems currently experienced by businesses that could benefit from such a move.”NCCI Chief Executive Officer Tarah Shaanika told journalists at a press briefing in Windhoek on Friday that it was essential that this agreement came into effect as soon as possible if both governments were serious about regional economic development.”The failure to implement this crucial agreement is hampering the growth of trade volumes between our two countries,” said Shaanika.Shaanika was giving a briefing on the NCCI’s regional outreach initiative, which took him and other members of the NCCI management team from the head office in Windhoek to Rundu, Oshakati, Eenhana, Helao Nafidi, Ongwediva, Ondangwa, Outapi and Okahao.The week-long visit was for the NCCI management to meet and discuss issues affecting the business communities in those areas, identify challenges faced by businesspeople and work out ways to address them.Shaanika said his team observed that more work still had to be done when it came to actual trading between Namibia and Angola.He called on the relevant authorities to deal with the slow pace of clearance of goods exported into Angola through the Katwitwi border post, adding this had a negative impact on the trade volumes that go to and fro between the two countries.”If we are serious about regional economic integration in the SADC region, we must work harder to address not only the tariff barriers to trade between and amongst our countries but also the non-tariff barriers including unnecessary bureaucratic procedures at our borders.”He said during the visit his team also noted that significant progress had been made in developing infrastructure on the Angolan side of the Kasamane crossing point, but that much more still needed to be done on the local side, adding that this particular border post had vast potential for Namibian exporters and the country as a whole by means of revenue generation.”We are, therefore, calling on the Namibian Government to seriously consider developing infrastructure at Kasamane and accelerate the process for declaring this point as a border post in order to alleviate the problems currently experienced by businesses that could benefit from such a move.”