ZNCC business delegation to visit Namibia

opportunities at a business forum to be held in Swakompund, Namibia from November 8 to 10.
The business forum, which is being hosted by the Namibia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI), will coincide with the Zimbabwe-Namibia Joint Permanent Commission meeting to be held in that country.
ZNCC corporate communications executive Ms Linda Mutendi urged local companies to take advantage of the visit to establish strategic alliances with their Namibian counterparts.
“The planned visit creates an ideal environment for the exploration of opportunities as well as business-to-business exchanges between the two business communities. Many of our local companies who are currently experiencing low capacity utilisation should take advantage of this gaping market,” she said.
Apparently, there is a great demand for Zimbabwean goods in Namibia. These include agricultural equipment, building materials, sugar, pork, poultry, tea, clothing and leather products.
Zimbabwe and Namibia signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in 1992 that provides for the exclusion of Customs Duty for goods with 25 percent local content.
However, trade between the two countries is still very limited in contrast to the cordial relations the two governments have, which is also reflective of intra-regional trade in the rest of the Southern African Development Community region. Sadc trade is still heavily skewed in favour of developed economies despite a push for regional countries to trade amongst themselves.
Meanwhile, the upcoming meeting of the Zimbabwe-Namibia Joint Permanent Commission will likely see delegates thrashing out issues around improving bilateral economic relations between the two.
During the fifth session of the Zimbabwe-Namibia Joint Permanent Commission, the two countries signed three agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and investment ties between them.
The agreements included the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, a revised Preferential Trade Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding on Forestry Management.
The fifth session was also aimed at improving the reciprocal 1992 PTA. The revised trade agreement included Namibia’s offer to Zimbabwe of Dry Port Facilities at Walvis Bay, the easy establishment of shops in Namibia by the Zimbabwean investors, and an agreement to double taxation.
The ZNCC has of late been exploring how local businesses can utilise Namibia’s deep-water port of Walvis Bay as a trade corridor. Latest statistics from the Walvis Bay Corridor Group indicates that Zimbabwe’s trade volumes through the port of Walvis Bay have grown significantly to 2 500 tonnes per month.
Namibia’s manufacturing sector is still very much limited, with the economy heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export, which opens up extensive business opportunities for local producers.