GOVERNMENT has been urged to put in place mechanisms to stimulate the economy and create jobs, and to use the National Budget to navigate the country through the global financial crisis.

The call was made by various speakers during a consultative meeting organised the Ministry of Trade and Industry to exchange ideas on the impact of the financial crisis on the local economy.

"We need to use the budget as a stabilising anchor in the midst of the crisis," said Theo Mberirua, Vice Chairperson of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), proposing increased spending on infrastructure to create jobs.

Mberirua also proposed that local manufacturing and service provision be promoted.

Mberirua raised the NCCI's concern that the economy is too reliant on extractive resources, making it vulnerable to economic shocks.

The meeting, convened by Trade Minister Hage Geingob, was attended by members of the public and private sectors and civil society.

Geingob said the meeting was convened to "consult broadly on how to mitigate the risks presented by the crisis" and to arrive at a sustainable solution.

"We need a holistic strategy on how to counter the crisis before it exerts a full-scale impact upon Namibia," Geingob said, adding that his ministry has received several proposals on how to address the crisis.

"Many of these proposals are in infrastructure for the creation of jobs."

He added that while construction was a key proposition in stimulating the economy, he wanted to see the establishment of task teams to create situational analyses and papers prescribing intervention.

"The watchword here is 'sustainability'. We need value for money," he said, urging civil society to come up with "creative ideas to assist the needy and destitute" in a collective effort.

Industry representatives were in agreement that Namibia has not been spared by the crisis, and presented several recommendations on the way forward for their respective sectors.

Harold Pupkewitz, Executive Chairman of the Pupkewitz Group of Companies, stressed that while the economy is in generally good shape, the private and public sectors will need to focus on emerging from the crisis in a strong position.

Outlining a 13-point plan, the 93-year-old Pupkewitz, who drew on his experience having lived through the Great Depression as a schoolboy, said: "No business should retrench unless the business is in dire straits, and across the board there should be no salary increases."

"Companies should invest in facilities to prepare for the upswing after the crisis, [and] Government needs to eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies," he added.

Pupkewitz also highlighted the need to cut the cost of Government, to release macroeconomic information more regularly so that businesses can make more informed decisions, to establish an institute of productivity, and to revise the labour law to reduce the cost of employment.

He said the new Labour Act has increased the cost of employment by five per cent.