Namibia will host the Namibia-South Africa Business Forum and Exhibition in Windhoek, where business executives can explore opportunities to increase trade and investment flows between the two countries.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade, the forum will be held at Windhoek Country Club on Friday under the theme: ‘Forging a New Era of Mutually Beneficial and Reciprocal Trade and Investment Relations’.
The forum is being hosted by the trade ministry, on the margins of the third session of the Namibia-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC), co-chaired by Namibian and South African presidents Hage Geingob and Cyril Ramaphosa.
The two heads of state are expected to address the business forum.
The programme of the forum will include presentations on opportunities available to strengthen value chain linkages between the two countries, exhibitions, business-to-business meetings and breakaway sessions for in-depth discussions on value chains in agriculture, automotive, green hydrogen, and clothing and textile sectors.
“The business forum will provide business people from the two countries a platform to exchange concrete ideas on the new opportunities that can be explored with the assistance of both governments, to increase trade,” noted the statement.
It is anticipated that a joint Namibia-South Africa business forum will be created and institutionalised to become a major platform that further enhances and solidifies trade, as well as industrial and investment linkages between the two countries.
Already, a lot of business is being conducted between the two countries, mainly due to historical ties.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency, during the month of August, Namibia’s top five export markets accounted for 69,9% of total exports, with South Africa taking pole position as Namibia’s main export destination, accounting for 23,6% of exports.
Botswana and Zambia came second and third, with a share of 20,6% and 9,9%, respectively.
During the month under review, the top five import markets for the country accounted for 58,6% of the import bill and South Africa occupied the first position with a share of 36,1%. Economic giant China came a distant second with a share of 6,7%, followed by India with 5,9% of its import bill.
– matthew@namibian.com.na
