Erongo governor Neville Andre Itope has called on exhibitors at this year’s Erongo Business and Tourism Exposition to optimize the platform and leverage the opportunity for displaying to the market, their various products.
Itope who officially opened the 14th edition of the expo at Walvis Bay on Wednesday, after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, urged exhibitors to proudly showcase and demonstrate an understanding of opportunities within the value chains in which they operate.
“It is my view that this platform is meant to encourage candid trade and discussions on the progress towards structural transformation and moving the economy of our region up the value chain, in line with the National Development Goals,” he expressed.
This year’s event is taking place under the theme, ‘Rethink, Reimagine & Reinvent Value Chains for Economic Development’ post the COVID-19 Pandemic.
According to Itope, who is also the expo’s patron, the theme for this year’s event locates it as the ideal platform to focus on the structural transformation required for supply chain optimization, saying, by coming together at the trade showcase, various economic players can strengthen existing value chains and create newer and more resilient ones.
“Over the last two years, businesses big and small which lacked global resilience broke down in the face of multi-country lockdowns.
The disruptions highlighted the need for organisations to understand their supply chains extensively and in broader dimensions.”
Walvis Bay Deputy Mayor Saara Mutondoka emphasised that it cannot be business as usual as the pandemic has changed the dynamics of how business is done.
“It has been a challenging two years as COVID-19 has deeply affected tourism and other economic activities worldwide, therefore it is time to embark on transformational change and create a conducive environment for both business and tourism to flourish,” she noted.
There are 160 exhibitors at this year’s expo, including international exhibitors from Croatia and Kenya.
In addition to the trade and expo platform, the Erongo Business and Tourism Expo Symposium in conjunction with Old Mutual Namibia, the Namibia College of Open Learning, the Development Bank of Namibia and Agribank will host plenary sessions commencing 27 to 28 October.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
