Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Charity Mwiya has affirmed business relations between Namibia and the US highlighting that NCCI considers the USA as an important economic ally to Namibia and that the commercial ties between the two nations must be strengthened in a manner which provides mutual benefits.
Speaking at the Namibia – USA business forum & B2B meetings last week, Mwiya went on to say that the commercial relations between Namibia and USA have existed for a long time, and today, the United States is among Namibia’s top ten trading partners.
“Namibia still provides excellent opportunities for USA businesses that want to invest and trade. The NCCI has committed itself to facilitating business partnerships between USA and Namibian businesses which can take advantage of these trade and investment opportunities. America is no doubt a great country and has set an exemplary pattern of a nation committed to the development of its people. For USA to have grown its economy to the level it is today as the largest in the world, it is as a result of committed systematic planning, which include building industries in manufacturing; creating and extending an innovative skills base and thus creating jobs and empowering its own people,” Mwiya said.
Namibia is endowed with abundant natural resources and we welcome investors like our USA counterparts that wish to build innovative industries to extract and enhance value addition to these resources, Mwiya further told the meeting.
“It is our ambition that such opportunities mutually benefit our people thereby creating backward and forward linkages. We are very confident that given your experience, you our USA counterparts will raise to the occasion and help us create an industrial based economy as well as contribute to the financial and capital markets of our warm and business friendly country. When addressing the key sectors of the Namibian economy, the NCCI plays a crucial role in supporting government efforts to identify key markets, to persuade the Global Market Access agenda and create meaningful outcomes. We are proud to have supported government’s efforts in negotiating for entry of our beef into the US market, and after 18 years of intensive negotiations, Namibia became the first African country to export beef to the USA market in 2020,” further explained Mwiya.
She went on to note that NCCI was proud that the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) was last year recognised as the Namibian exporter of the year to the United States (US).
This was recognised at the 2021 Namibia Annual Exporter Awards, which were organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in conjunction with the Namibian Manufacturers Association (NMA) and the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade.
“Winning this award reveals Meatco has demonstrated its competitive edge to comply with the stringent US market requirements. The award is also an encouragement to our Namibian farmers/producers as well as the Namibian government that has enabled players like Meatco to have systems in place to meet the required US standards. And NCCI is proud of Meatco on this milestone,” Mwiya said.