Prime Minister urges business to take advantage of Public Procurement

WINDHOEK, 03 NOV – Prime Minister (PM) Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has urged businesses to take advantage of the Public Procurement Act, by producing and offering good quality products and services.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila made this appeal in a speech read on her behalf during the official opening of the 8th Katutura Expo here on Thursday.
She said Government has put in place policies such as the Growth at Home Strategy with a view to promote production and consumption of domestically manufactured goods and services.
Namibia also has legal instruments, such as the Public Procurement Law, which provide preferential treatment to local companies with the aim of boosting the local manufacturing industry to enable them to compete in any market.
“I also urge the private sector to embrace the concept of total quality management, which involves paying attention to quality at every stage of production,” the PM said.
She further said the capacity of local businesses is not only being built to serve the domestic market, but also to be able to export goods and services in the medium to long term.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila could not hide her disappointment in, what she described, a situation of two economies in one.
“We cannot continue to source goods and services externally while we leave our own locally produced goods without a market and we cannot continue to export our products raw and import all our consumables.”
Her encouragement to the business community is to invest in businesses not to make a quick buck, but to optimise entrepreneurship potential and the economic potential of Namibia, forfeiting the immediate gains to establish a legacy and long term economic prosperity for future generations.
The PM did not overlook the challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises, such as the lack of access to affordable capital, skills, markets and collateral, which, according to her, presents a significant barrier to economic and financial inclusion for this market segment.
Cabinet’s approval of the National Policy on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Namibia was aimed at addressing such challenges, she said.
This year’s expo, which has attracted about 115 exhibitors, is held under the theme ‘Building a better business society’.
The expo opened Tuesday and ends on Sunday.
(NAMPA)