Doing business in Namibia punted to Dutch entrepreneurs in The Hague
At a recent business meeting in The Hague, the Chief Executive of a group representing 350 Dutch companies, said Namibia offers many business opportunities for Dutch companies in specific sectors.
The meeting was organised by a small group of individuals, all with a strong Namibian link. The Honorary Consul of the Netherlands to Namibia, Servaas van den Bosch, his predecessor, Ger Kegge, and his counterpart in the Netherlands, Cornélie van Waegeningh, came together earlier this year to form what they call the Netherlands Namibia Trade and Investment Fourm.
They made contact with the Netherlands African Business Council, representing some 350 Dutch companies, to arrange for a first meeting to exchange ideas on trade promotion. At this meeting, the Namibian Ambassador to the Netherlands, H.E. Dr Kaire Mbuende spoke to the Business Council members, telling them that the Namibian Government is very keen to receive a large Dutch business delegation for B2B meetings.
“Our embassy would like to organize a large business delegation from The Netherlands so they can have Business to Business meetings in Namibia,” the Ambassador said.
During the meeting, the Commercial Councillor in the Namibian Embassy, Diana Kuiri Tjiposa, did a presentation on local trade and investment opportunities, afterwards fielding questions from the roughly 40 Dutch businessmen who attended.
Chief Executive of the business council, Peter de Ruiter, said “Although Namibia may be considered a small country, it has great potential to be used as the gateway to the rest of the Southern African Development Community and African region due to its location. We at the Netherlands African Business Council see that there is quite a number of interesting business opportunities.”
Kegge added that their trade forum has specifically structured the business meeting around sectors where the Dutch are dominant, or where there is potential demand in Africa. Top of their list is the agro-food industry, in particular meat, smart horticulture, fish derivatives, also service delivery in tourism and logistics, and IT for data processing and automation.
Ambassador Mbuende remarked “The Netherlands is renowned for its agro-food industries, but also has an excellent reputation when it comes to water management and energy, including renewables. Meanwhile, in Namibia we have trade and investment opportunities in nearly every sector.”
Caption: Attending the first Doing Business in Namibia seminar, from the left, Peter de Ruiter, Chief Executive of the Netherlands African Business Council, Diana Tjiposa, Commercial Councillor in the Namibian Embassy in The Hague, HE Dr Kaire Mbuende, the Namibian Ambassador to The Netherlands, Cornélie van Waegeningh, Namibian Honorary Consul, Servaas van den Bosch, Dutch Honorary Consul and Ger Kegge, former Dutch Honorary Consul to Namibia.
