Catherine Sasman
9 October 2008
Windhoek — A new era in the Namibian-Swedish relations was hailed with the establishment of the Swedish Trade Council (STC) that will shift Sweden's involvement here from traditional grant assistance to actor-driven cooperation.
The Swedish Embassy will close its doors on October 15, with the introduction of a transitional programme of the STC's five-year country strategy aimed at promoting trade in Namibia on behalf of Swedish industries and government, said Lena Blomstrand, Chargé d'Affaires of the Swedish Embassy.
The STC has 60 branches worldwide, with eight of these in Africa. It is an institution set up to support Swedish companies to expand and establish themselves internationally.
The STC will work closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Namibia Trade Forum, as well as business, local authority and NGO partners here.
"Namibia is wide open for foreign investors to come and enter into smart partnerships with local businesses," declared Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Teopolina Mushelenga.
The new arrangement, which will get sponsorship of 24 million Swedish Khrone per year, presents business partners from the two countries an opportunity to initiate areas of cooperation, which will be scrutinised by both governments for the consideration of grant and concessional loan financing facilities.
Maria Selin, Country Director of STC in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, said the funding support of joint ventures will necessarily be limited, as there is a determined move away from traditional support.
"Cost-sharing necessarily forms part of the picture," Selin emphasised.
The two governments discussed the working modalities in June and the National Planning Commission and SIDA [the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency] will engage in developing the country strategy.
Permanent Secretary of the National Planning Commission, Mock Shivute, said there is ample scope to operate in the water and energy sectors, in the area of environmental sustainability and human resource development.
Other areas of possible joint cooperation under the National Development Plan III (NDP III) are in gender, good governance, democracy and culture and arts sectors.
"This does not exclude other areas of cooperation since it will depend on the areas of interest that Namibian and Swedish partners identify," Shivute said.
There are already a number of cooperation initiatives under the new bi-lateral arrangement. There is the ongoing cooperation with the Swede Survey and the Directorate of Survey and Mapping that focus on the transfer of technology between the two organisations.
There is also institutional cooperation between the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences and the University of Namibia, support to road safety initiatives of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and the improvement of border crossings.
The Swedes are also involved in the land management course offered at the Polytechnic of Namibia.
Support to Namport and TransNamib is being considered.
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