The Republic of Zambia and the Republic of Namibia held a Bilateral Trade Ministerial Meeting on 23rd February, 2023, at Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka. The Ministerial meeting was preceded by a Bilateral Senior Trade Officials Meeting held a day before and led by Mr. John A. Mulongoti, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, and Mr. Sikongo Haihambo, Executive Director, Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade from the Republic of Namibia.

The objective of the two meetings was to take stock of the progress made in the area of trade and investment between Zambia and Namibia.

During the Ministerial Bilateral Meeting, the Zambian delegation was led by Hon. Chipoka Mulenga, MP, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry and the Namibian delegation was led by Hon. Lucia Lipumbu, MP, Minister of Industrialisation and Trade.

In delivering his remarks, Hon. Mulenga highlighted that the political, social and economic cooperation between Zambia and Namibia had grown from strength to strength and this was evidenced by the High-Level visit to Namibia by His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia and the visit by His Excellency, Mr. Hage Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, to Zambia.

The Minister further indicated that there was need to forge even greater relations and further cement the existing cooperation by engaging in contract production where the two countries would be able to trade based on comparative advantage and also encouraged the technical teams from both sides to fast track the implementation of the process of what had been agreed on.

And in her remarks, Hon. Lucia Lipumbu highlighted that the objective of the engagement was primarily to explore trade and investment opportunities and strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries. She pointed out that Namibia and Zambia have key commodities which can be exchanged such as sugar and salt which are highly essential at both household and industrial level. She emphasized that the two Ministries responsible for trade in both countries must continue to actively act as interfaces between the two Governments, the private sector and the investors.

The Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry expressed gratitude to his counterpart from Namibia and her delegation for making the interaction possible and reiterated Zambia’s commitment to strengthening the bilateral trade and economic relations through enhanced cooperation and continued collaboration on matters of mutual interest.