Trade minister allays Investment Bill concerns
Bill aimed at equal treatment
According to trade minister Lucia Iipumbu, the ministry has reached out to relevant stakeholders across the country for input into the Namibia Investment Promotion and Facilitation Bill.
Trade minister Lucia Iipumbu has emphasised the ministry's commitment to bolstering the role of local investors and ensuring equal treatment between domestic and foreign investors through the Namibia Investment Promotion and Facilitation Bill.
This comes in response to criticism from experts who have warned that the Bill may scare off investors.
In response to questions by Namibian Sun, Iipumbu reiterated that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Act did not adequately support or empower local investors.
This prompted the drafting of the Investment Bill, which prioritises the identification and support of domestic investors on par with their foreign counterparts.
Innovative steps
The ministry clarified that the emphasis on equitable treatment is rooted in national treatment principles rather than control, as was asserted by the Economic Policy Research Association (EPRA), which cautioned that the bill in its current form would have a damning impact on Namibia’s investment environment.
"Regulations are a key opportunity for innovation. Government is constantly working on ensuring that business regulation is not only optimal but that it is less of a hindrance to business productivity," the minister said.
"To this end, we are actively going to look at new applications such as e-inspections, for example. In terms of low skills, it is important to ensure that a collective approach is fostered. In terms of strategic investment, under which the minister can sign a performance agreement, skills development will be ideally leveraged against the economic concessions or incentives we may grant as a country to the strategic investor," she explained.
The minister said the FDI Act “had no bearing on supporting and leveraging a local investor. That is why the new Bill is ensuring that a domestic investor is identified and supported just like a foreign investor. It’s not about control, but equal national treatment principles.”
Inclusive consultations
She also addressed concerns raised by EPRA about the consultation process related to the Bill, reaffirming the ministry's commitment to an inclusive process.
"On the matter of limited advanced awareness or invitation, we are putting it on record that since the withdrawal of the Bill in November 2021, ongoing consultations have featured prominently. Do take note that by then we already had a long-standing engagement with the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), since especially from 2016 onwards, and they were also accorded adequate time to review it with their own private lawyer."
Iipumbu said by November 2021, "we realised that there was even a democratic deficit in terms of little consultations with all the country's business associations and the Mining Prosperity Network. We thus had both a formal approach where we wrote to these organisations, in addition to our long-standing engagement with NCCI. In addition, for the past eight months we have had regional consultations on the Bill across all 14 regions, with Khomas being the last."
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This comes in response to criticism from experts who have warned that the Bill may scare off investors.
In response to questions by Namibian Sun, Iipumbu reiterated that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Act did not adequately support or empower local investors.
This prompted the drafting of the Investment Bill, which prioritises the identification and support of domestic investors on par with their foreign counterparts.
Innovative steps
The ministry clarified that the emphasis on equitable treatment is rooted in national treatment principles rather than control, as was asserted by the Economic Policy Research Association (EPRA), which cautioned that the bill in its current form would have a damning impact on Namibia’s investment environment.
"Regulations are a key opportunity for innovation. Government is constantly working on ensuring that business regulation is not only optimal but that it is less of a hindrance to business productivity," the minister said.
"To this end, we are actively going to look at new applications such as e-inspections, for example. In terms of low skills, it is important to ensure that a collective approach is fostered. In terms of strategic investment, under which the minister can sign a performance agreement, skills development will be ideally leveraged against the economic concessions or incentives we may grant as a country to the strategic investor," she explained.
The minister said the FDI Act “had no bearing on supporting and leveraging a local investor. That is why the new Bill is ensuring that a domestic investor is identified and supported just like a foreign investor. It’s not about control, but equal national treatment principles.”
Inclusive consultations
She also addressed concerns raised by EPRA about the consultation process related to the Bill, reaffirming the ministry's commitment to an inclusive process.
"On the matter of limited advanced awareness or invitation, we are putting it on record that since the withdrawal of the Bill in November 2021, ongoing consultations have featured prominently. Do take note that by then we already had a long-standing engagement with the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), since especially from 2016 onwards, and they were also accorded adequate time to review it with their own private lawyer."
Iipumbu said by November 2021, "we realised that there was even a democratic deficit in terms of little consultations with all the country's business associations and the Mining Prosperity Network. We thus had both a formal approach where we wrote to these organisations, in addition to our long-standing engagement with NCCI. In addition, for the past eight months we have had regional consultations on the Bill across all 14 regions, with Khomas being the last."
[email protected]
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