The retirement funds industry must remain resilient and strong against unforeseen eventualities because it remains critical to government in supporting national economic recovery initiatives, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila has said.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila made these remarks on Wednesday at the 14th conference for retirement funds in Windhoek.

She said Government has adopted initiatives such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) that offer opportunities for investment of local savings through collaboration between government and the private sector. The industry has an opportunity, through PPP, to also share its expertise to help with the realisation of strategic national initiatives to improve service delivery, besides growth promotion and optimisation of returns on investment.

“The Harambee Prosperity Plan outlines the range of interventions that are prioritised by government, on which cooperation can be forged with the industry. I call upon the industry to see how it can position itself to be a part of implementation of HPPII,” said the premier.

She added that COVID-19 has amplified retirement funds’ vulnerability due to reliance on imports when disruptions in supply chains for basic goods were disrupted by the outbreak of the pandemic restrictions, which also brought to the fore investment opportunities locally in which local savings, including those under the pension funds industry, can be deployed to.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the industry should harness potential local investment to optimise investment returns while supporting local economic recovery and resilience building.

“COVID-19 has negatively affected the economy. Sectors such as tourism and transport have seen massive declines in employment. This led to disruptions in contributions and earlier than planned withdrawals from the retirement funds. Pension fund regulators in a number of countries have come under pressure to relax employers’ contribution requirements, particularly in industries with large fund member job losses and unpaid leave,” stated the prime minister.

She further added that retirement fund investments are crucial for local investment and while the regulations require that at least 1.75 per cent of assets be invested locally, the intention is not to induce the maximum of investments to that benchmark but to induce the industry to identify opportunities for local investment.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency