The Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) and the European Union (EU) Delegation will co-host the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Trade Forum later this month.
The main objectives of the EPA Trade Forum are to create more awareness of the EPA and potential opportunities in the European market for the private sector in Namibia; identify how companies can benefit from the EPA and increase exports – including diversification and value-addition to products; showcasing Namibian products that have export potential through an exhibition and creating a platform for networking between Namibian companies and organisations with European counterparts.
The EPA Trade Forum also serves as a precursor to the EU-Namibia Business Forum planned for mid-2023.
This comes as the EU provided N$108.4 million (€6 million) to strengthen the government’s capacity to manage international agreements, with specific focus on EPA.
This includes creating more awareness of private operators on potential benefits of the agreement, as well as supporting the quality and scope of public service delivery in areas of sanitary and phytosanitary issues, technical barriers to trade and quality control and certification, public-private dialogue and engagement with the business community such as the EPA Trade Forum.
“Namibia’s economic outlook after the Covid-19 pandemic is brighter, therefore we believe the time is opportune to fully utilise the EPA as a lever to accelerate trade, economic growth and more jobs.” said Sinikka Antila, the EU Ambassador to Namibia.
Minister of Industrialisation and Trade Lucia Iipumbu added: “We should double efforts to develop the Small and Medium Enterprise sector, connect them to overseas buyers, markets and global chains, expertise as well as the financial sector to maximise opportunities offered under the EPA.”
