SADC Industrialisation Week starts in Windhoek

WINDHOEK, 30 JUL  – Namibia will have to trade more with its neighbouring countries before it can trade with the rest of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Africa.
SADC’s Director for Industrial Development and Trade, Tapiwa Simanga said this during the official opening of the third SADC Industrial Week here on Monday.
He said intra-SADC trade is low, adding that the region’s members traded the least with each other.
“Namibia does not buy enough from Botswana, Angola and the other member states and this is a situation that we want to change,” he said.
Simanga highlighted several developments emerging in the region, like the free trade area and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East African Community and SADC (COMESA-EAC-SADC) tripartite agreement which will strengthen and deepen economic integration of the southern and eastern Africa region.
He said the SADC region can no longer remain passive in the quest for industrialisation and must pursue it with more vigour and focus and take deliberate steps to improve every year.
Industrial Week started Monday and ends Wednesday and is being held under the theme ‘Promoting infrastructure development and youth empowerment for sustainable development’.
Simanga said Industrialisation Week creates a regional platform for building partnerships and for growth of regional businesses and facilitates advocacy on the need to improve the business environment for a competitive manufacturing sector in SADC.
“Industrialisation is the only way we will be able to generate the capacity to produce what we can sell to each other,” he stated.
About 150 manufacturers and exhibitors from the SADC region are exhibiting their products and services during the event.
It is amongst others being attended by various representatives of the SADC member states, the European Union, private sector representatives and small and medium enterprises.
(NAMPA)