Namibia Looking to Joint Projects With Russia in Green Energy & Oil, Says Foreign Minister
© Sputnik . Alexey Maishev
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On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Moscow with his Namibian counterpart, Peya Mushelenga. Mushelenga visited Moscow to co-chair the 10th meeting of the Russian-Namibian Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Namibia expects to implement joint projects with the Russian Federation in the spheres of green hydrogen and oil, said the Republic's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Peya Mushelenga.
Mushelenga underlined Namibia's commitment to sustainable energy and green hydrogen initiatives, emphasizing the significant commercial potential of the country's oil reserves.
Together with its partners, Namibia aims to further explore and assess the extent of its valuable resources. The minister emphasized the importance of international cooperation and partnership, particularly with Russia, and the critical role such cooperation will play in the success of these projects.
Potential Sectors for Cooperation
Speaking at the inaugural session of the 10th meeting of the Russian-Namibian IGC on trade and economic cooperation, the minister urged for sustained efforts to bolster the existing collaboration between the two nations in the fields of oil and green hydrogen.
The potential sectors for enhanced partnership with Russia highlighted by Minister Mushelenga are the following:
Technology and IT: Mushelenga noted the possibility of leveraging the tech and IT sectors to boost the currently low volume of trade between the two nations.
Mining: The minister proposed webinars to foster business interaction between the two countries.
Energy: He emphasized Namibia's "commercially significant" oil reserves and ongoing efforts with partners to appraise the volumes of the resource more accurately.
Green hydrogen: The Namibian minister indicated that Windhoek is moving forward with projects in this domain and is looking to expand cooperation.
In addition, the Russian and Namibian sides discussed prospects for developing cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, fisheries, mining, education, and health, the minister added.
Mushelenga further disclosed that Namibia's delegation has compiled a comprehensive catalog of potential investors, which will be presented to the Russian counterparts during the intergovernmental commission meetings, underscoring Namibia's proactive approach to facilitating investment opportunities and fostering economic ties with Russia.
For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev, who heads the Russian part of the intergovernmental commission, said that Namibia pursues an independent international policy and is like-minded with Russia on many issues.
"We appreciate that our Namibian friends have consistently pursued a truly independent course in international relations and are in many ways our like-minded friends. We will preserve the spirit of solidarity and mutual support, trustworthy political dialogue and contacts," Trutnev said.
The Russian official noted that Moscow and Windhoek have close views on how the modern world should develop "without dictatorship and the imposition of foreign models of society and state structure."
"I would like to make special mention of our productive long-term cooperation with your predecessor, the current Vice-President of Namibia, Mrs. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, and ask you to convey to her my words of gratitude for supporting the development of Russian-Namibian relations. I am convinced that through joint efforts we will be able to achieve practical results and ensure the continuity of the work started by Mrs. Vice-President," he added.
