No trade officials at key Namibian embassies

NAMIBIA has not yet sent any diplomats responsible for trade to key embassies abroad, and some posts have been vacant since 2002, Trade and Industry Minister Hage Geingob said in Parliament on Thursday.

Responding to a question from DTA politician McHenry Venaani why the vacancies had not been filled, Geingob admitted that the post at the Namibian embassy in Washington DC had been vacant for six years, but since he became trade minister a few months ago, he made this matter a top priority. “I requested my officials to identify an adequately qualified and experienced official at senior level and present him or her to me for appointment,” he said.Since the Namibian embassies in Brazil and China also had no trade attachés, his ministry was keen to fill those vacancies as a priority, Geingob added.Germany, France and the United Arab Emirates have been identified as key global economic centres requiring a Namibian presence to intensify trade and investments.The opening of commercial counsellors’ offices in these countries had been budgeted for and will be done soon, Geingob told the House.”I requested my officials to identify an adequately qualified and experienced official at senior level and present him or her to me for appointment,” he said.Since the Namibian embassies in Brazil and China also had no trade attachés, his ministry was keen to fill those vacancies as a priority, Geingob added.Germany, France and the United Arab Emirates have been identified as key global economic centres requiring a Namibian presence to intensify trade and investments.The opening of commercial counsellors’ offices in these countries had been budgeted for and will be done soon, Geingob told the House.