Beneficiation: Govt must walk the talk 0 Beneficiation was the buzzword at the recent Manufacturers Association of Namibia Manufacturer of the Year Gala Dinner held a fortnight ago. Delivering his keynote address, South African entrepreneur Chris van Niekerk drew the attention of the attendees to benefits of beneficiation, calling for government to play a bigger role.
“For industrialisation to be successful, government must be the developing agent to create the right environment, [while the] natural resources and geography needs to be used in an effective way. Continuous technology upgrades is very important and least of all there must be a win-win partnerships between government and the private sector.”
Representing the Ministry of Trade, Industrialisation and SME Development at the awards, deputy permanent secretary Michael Humavindu said: “Namibia has agreed to become an industrialized economy by the year 2030. In order to achieve this target we must improve our delivery rates in terms of policy implementation rather significantly. The Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development has also in recognition of sustainable economic sectors, by regulation, reserved certain categories of economic sectors and business activities for domestic or local investors and by so doing ensure that local businesses become part of the mainstream economy.”
The Association also recently elected new board while subsequently re-electing Brian Black as chairperson and Diana van Schalkwyk as the vice-chairperson of the board.
STAFF REPORTER