President Hage Geingob on Wednesday expressed his hopes for Namibia becoming industrialised by the year 2030.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address in Parliament, Geingob said clear signs for achieving Vision 2030 exist, as do signs for Namibia becoming a dynamic upper middle-income country which will have an upward trajectory and a strong base upon which to build its ambitions.
“The vision however would require strong partnerships and for us to be prepared to hold hands with the rest of the world in order to realise our aspirations,” he said.
The ongoing economic diplomacies for mutually beneficial bilateral relations to achieve the overarching goals of the Harambee Prosperity Plan II, the Fifth National Development Plan (NDP 5) and objectives as set out in Vision 2030 are also milestones.
Geingob that with multiple bilateral agreements being executed with the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the European Union, Vision 2030 is possible.
Geingob however stated that in order to industrialise Namibia, plenty of water supply needs to be secured.
The creation of the Erongo Desalination Plant, refurbishment of the Omahenene-Olushandja canal in northern Namibia and completion of the Kuiseb collector-2-pipelines national water projects are all vital, he said.
Geingob believes Vision 2030 is easy to achieve if the Walvis Bay Industrial Development Initiative’s expression of interest which seeks to unlock attractive offers to develop the container terminal at the Port of Walvis Bay continue, including the plans to further dredge the channel to 16 metres and double the capacity of the terminal.
He said with TransNamib and NamPort playing crucial roles in absorbing and delivering cargos destined for trade with other partners through the ports and rail infrastructure, Vision 2030 will succeed.
Geingob added that five major roads are also nearing completion.
The roads include the Swakopmund-Walvis Bay dual carriageway, Swakopmund-Henties Bay section, Mandume Ndemufayo-Sam Nujoma Drive and the Gobabis-Onderombapa-Aranos road.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
