The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) is seeking a strategic and effective system for greater engagement with the government at all levels in order to generate long-term economic growth.
NCCI president Bisey Uirab stated this during the recently held national corporate forum in Windhoek under the subject ‘Harnessing the power of business to advocate for local economic growth’.
The National Corporate Forum is a networking meeting of the chamber’s corporate executive members who frequently share ideas, information, opinions and solutions from other successful CEOs on current industry and business concerns.
According to him, the forum sessions allow industry leaders to seek guidance from their peers on addressing various corporate and enterprise concerns, as well as discuss ideas for increasing enterprises and a sustainably thriving enterprise community.
“We are all aware that the responsibility to lead the revival of our economy following years of a recession and global pandemic has been placed on the shoulders of the private sector. Rightly so because job creation, wealth creation, economic empowerment and nation building are all led by the business community,” Uirab said.
Reviving the economy requires us to act quickly to enable the NCCI to build a resilient economy that can sustain jobs, create domestic wealth and healthy communities, and every Namibian must support local enterprises, from procurement opportunities to market access for Namibia’s local goods and services, he added.
“Given our small domestic market, global connectivity is equally essential for the growth of our businesses. Hence, we need to proactively strengthen our regional economic integration by undertaking comprehensive reviews of existing trade agreements, improving trade facilitation, building strategies for digital commerce and looking at ways of building collective strategies to promote regional commodities. Innovation is key for business survival,” he noted.
Uirab further said the Namibian government has provided critical support to entrepreneurs in the last two years. Economic growth is however uneven across multiple sectors, and the government should continue to provide targeted support.
“The recent discovery of oil reserves, and the various green hydrogen projects that are about to take root in our country are developments that we, as local business cannot and should not ignore. It is crucial that we participate in these discussions and ensure that we as Business Namibia are around the table and become active players therein,” he said.
Source: NAMPA