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Edgar Brandt
WINDHOEK – The message of the opening session of the Regional Public-Private Regional Forum of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), known as Week of Industrialization, was that regional integration was a necessary precursor.
The SADC Industrialization Week began yesterday in Windhoek and will continue until tomorrow August 1 under the theme "Promoting Infrastructure Development and Youth Empowerment for Development". sustainable. "
"We recommit ourselves, as a region, to industrialization, produce what we can sell to each other and increase SADC's production capacity.The reality is that Namibia, and the others SADC countries, must trade more with neighboring countries in order to gradually trade more with the African continent, "said Tapiwa Samanga of the SADC Secretariat
. that Member States can not move away from it, deliberate steps must be taken to improve each year and efforts for regional industrialization must continue.
Germany's ambbadador to Namibia, Christian-Matthias Schlaga, recalled He declares that his country attaches great importance to regional integration and therefore fully supports the integration initiatives of SADC.
"Namibian firms can achieve economies of scale only when they look beyond their borders," Schlaga said. warned, however, that regional integration and industrialization take time. "One of the key aspects of achieving these goals is to develop a regional and global integration mentality, which is why the slogan" my country first "does not match the Today's world and global goals, "he added, in a gesture reminiscent of US President Donald Trump's" America First "
. European Union in Namibia, Jana Hybaskova, pointed out that "value chains" are the key words of this important week
"We really need to consider how we position local value chains The Namibian Minister of 39 Industrialization, Trade and SME Development, Tjekero Tweya, officially welcomed the delegates at the event, using an example of toothpicks to highlight the point of industrialization. after the independence of Namibia, we are still unable to make toothpicks in the country. Even financial institutions prefer to give you an overdraft to travel to China to buy toothpicks, but they would be reluctant to give you the money to buy the machine to make your own toothpicks, "said Tweya. aims to promote new opportunities for intraregional trade and investment, also implies an exhibiting aspect on secondary lines where this year around 150 SADC companies are presenting their products.
SADC Industrialization Week 2018 is organized with the support of the NEPAD Business Foundation, the Southern Africa Business Forum (SABF), the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa and the Department of International Relations and Society (DIRCO) and is supported by Barclays Africa Group and the European Union
The SADC Industrialization Week is being organized as a precursor to the Heads of State and Government of SADC and its results will be reported to the annual meeting of SADC Ministers
theme "Infrastructure Constraints" while the second one is conducted in South Africa where a regional gas working group committee was created.
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