Namibia’s foreign affairs minister, Hidipo Hamutenya, is to be feted for the enormous contribution he made, during his nine-year stint as Minister of Trade and Industry, in attracting substantial investment to the country. He is recipient of the prestigious 2003 FDI Personality of the Year: Africa Region, an annual honour bestowed by the London Financial Times’ FDI magazine. The award ceremony was the highlight of this year’s IPA World Forum, which was held in Amsterdam on Thursday, 12 June.

Hamutenya received this international recognition for the prominent role he has played to position Namibia in numerous regional and international trade fora, including the recently ended protracted re-negotiation of the SACU agreement and the launch, in 2000, of the SADC Free Trade Areas, according to Mr David Nuyoma, executive director of the Namibia Investment Forum, when he announced details about the event.

Minister Hamutenya successfully negotiated the granting of least developed country status to Namibia - and Botswana - in terms of the amended African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA II), a new law in the US, which provided even better access for Namibian-manufactured products into the US market. Reshuffled to foreign affairs in August last year, Hamutenya has shifted foreign diplomacy to "economic diplomacy," urging Namibian diplomats in foreign countries to propagate Namibia as an ideal investment destination.

The world’s longest repeater link is nowhere else to be found but in Solitaire, one of the smallest places in Namibia, with a shop, a filling station, a church and a guest house. The new repeater installed by cellular licence holder MTC last month is 64.2 kilometer long, making it a new world record. A repeater takes a signal from the base station and boosts it to improve reception. The repeater at Solitaire has two units, one of which installed at the base station and the second one at a remote site, where the boosting of the signal is needed. AS a result, a higher output of power is achieved and a broader area is covered at Solitaire and its surroundings. The new repeater was totally engineered by MTC’s radio department. The previous booster world record was also held by MTC at 49 kilometres.

Deputy finance minister Rick Kukuri this week tabled a tax amendment, raising the non-taxable amount to N$ 24 000 as from 1 March, 2003. Additionally, 17.5% tax is deductible in the tax bracket from N$ 24 001 to N$ 40 000. Tax of 29.5% plus N$ 2 800 is deducted fro earnings between N$ 40 001 and N$ 80 000 and for earnings between N$ 80 001 and N$ 200 000 tax of 34.5% plus N$ 14 600 are deducted. For the tax bracket of the high-income group, namely N$ 80 001 to N$ 200 000 tax is the amount of N$ 56 000 plus 35% of the amount by which the taxable amount exceeds N$ 200 000.

About 50 Namibian business people are exhibiting their manufactured products in Lubango, southern Angola this week. The trip was organised by the NCCI. A conference with the Namibian minister of trade and industry and his Angolan counterpart and business people from both countries took place on Wednesday. Namibian companies had to fork out about N$ 18 000 to do the trip. For 14 to 20 July, the ministry o trade and industry organises a trip to Luanda, where Namibians can take part in the Luanda International Trade Fair, (Filda). Interested persons can contact the MTI via e-mail at murphy@mti.gov.na if they are interested to participate.