Namibia, Germany celebrate implementation of joint industry growth strategies
Namibia and Germany have been cooperating in the field of economic competitiveness since 2015 and last year, the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) launched strategies to grow specific industries.
The 10 industry growth strategies that were developed with extensive stakeholder engagement are; cosmetics products, game meat, taxidermy, leather and leather products, Swakara wool, gemstones and jewellery, handicrafts, seafood, wood charcoal, and metal fabrication.
As a result, many key activities took place this year; the Namibia Metal Fabrication Association was created while some representatives of the Namibian Metal Fabrication Industry had the opportunity to visit the Agritechnica in Germany, the biggest industry gathering for agriculture and agricultural machinery.
Furthermore, the Eat Wild Festival, a one-week event which took place in Windhoek in November, was another achievement in this first year of implementation. The Festival offered a great platform to promote game meat and game meat products among Namibians and to international visitors, in a fresh and modern way. More than 15 restaurants took part in the first edition of the Festival.
Additionally, as part of the strategies, the Gemstone Showcase took place in October and displayed all steps of the Value Chain, from small scale mining until jewellery manufacturing. Members of the public could buy authentic Namibian stones and jewellery, and the stakeholders exhibited their remarkable products.
Throughout the year, various trainings were also offered to stakeholders of the different industries: the stakeholders were sensitised to new technologies during so-called ‘field days’; new processing methods and techniques were passed on to the stakeholders, ultimately contributing to an increase in productivity and competitiveness.
Key stakeholders from the public and private sectors flocked to the Maerua Rooftop to reflect on a busy year of activities and deliberate about the next phase of implementation which is set to start in 2018.
