Nam on track to achieve targets

Nam on track to achieve targets

ALTHOUGH Namibia has been performing well in achieving the targets of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for 2008, economic growth remains one of the challenges.

Economic growth has not been strong enough to create employment in order to reduce the high rate of unemployment, alleviate poverty and reduce income inequality in the country. According to the Acting Director of the Namibia Economic Public Research Unit (Nepru), Klaus Schade, speaking during the launching of a book called ‘Namibia on Track to Meet SADC Targets’ in Windhoek on Tuesday, economic growth is being retarded by a lack of skills and competencies and the high prevalence of HIV-AIDS within the job market.On HIV-AIDS, he explained that it posed a threat of reducing the return on investment in education and finally in the labour force, while it increased pressure on budget allocation for the health sector in particular if support from development partners declines.He said Namibia has missed two targets set for 2008 over the past two years.One of these is the growth target, which is set at seven per cent annual economic growth, despite a policy framework that stresses the need for sustainable and increased economic growth as stated in the National Development Plans and Vision 2030.He also explained that in order to support this objective, Government had implemented a number of incentive schemes aimed at attracting foreign and domestic investment, most notable the export processing zone scheme, an incentive scheme for manufacturing companies.Schade stressed that although new companies were set up, the schemes have never resulted in a big push in manufacturing activities and subsequently employment creation.The Nepru Acting Director pointed out that Namibia has done well regarding the inflation rate that has been for years now well below the target of nine per cent for 2008.”As a member of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) and a small country, Namibia’s sovereignty concerning monetary policy is limited,” he said.NampaAccording to the Acting Director of the Namibia Economic Public Research Unit (Nepru), Klaus Schade, speaking during the launching of a book called ‘Namibia on Track to Meet SADC Targets’ in Windhoek on Tuesday, economic growth is being retarded by a lack of skills and competencies and the high prevalence of HIV-AIDS within the job market.On HIV-AIDS, he explained that it posed a threat of reducing the return on investment in education and finally in the labour force, while it increased pressure on budget allocation for the health sector in particular if support from development partners declines.He said Namibia has missed two targets set for 2008 over the past two years.One of these is the growth target, which is set at seven per cent annual economic growth, despite a policy framework that stresses the need for sustainable and increased economic growth as stated in the National Development Plans and Vision 2030.He also explained that in order to support this objective, Government had implemented a number of incentive schemes aimed at attracting foreign and domestic investment, most notable the export processing zone scheme, an incentive scheme for manufacturing companies.Schade stressed that although new companies were set up, the schemes have never resulted in a big push in manufacturing activities and subsequently employment creation.The Nepru Acting Director pointed out that Namibia has done well regarding the inflation rate that has been for years now well below the target of nine per cent for 2008.”As a member of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) and a small country, Namibia’s sovereignty concerning monetary policy is limited,” he said.Nampa

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