NCCI to address issue of recession at weekend summit

THE Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) is going to concurrently host its Annual General Meeting together with a summit on the impact of the financial crisis during the coming weekend.

The summit will be used to ‘brainstorm on how best to be responsive as a nation in the face of the current global recession and in particular to address the issue of local economic empowerment’, according to an official statement.The NCCI is particularly concerned about the fall in Namibia’s mining revenue, which the organisation says has declined by 30 per cent this year.At the meeting, the NCCI will also unveil its policy on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), compiled by a local economist and an NCCI sub-committee. Another issue that will be addressed during the summit is food security.The NCCI says that ‘one lesson painfully learnt by many food-importing countries such as Namibia is that, even if it appears that basic food products are available on world markets at affordable prices, it does not pay to ignore your own agricultural production capabilities’.The summit will therefore also be looking at strategies to increase Namibia’s agricultural production and to keep reserves of basic foodstuffs for crisis periods. To this end, the chamber has invited Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry Andrew Ndishishi to talk on the opportunities in Namibian agriculture.The chamber is expecting more than 200 participants at the event including business and government leaders, heads of diplomatic missions, union leaders, and representatives from the Chamber’s member organisations. The event will be hosted at the Windhoek country club & resort at the following times: Annual Business Summit: Friday, June 26, 08h00 – 17h00; Annual General Meeting: Saturday, June 27, 08:00 – 09:35 (Official opening), 10:00 – 13:00 (Council Business, closed session); Annual Gala Dinner: Saturday, June 27, 18:00.