Sport minister calls for local empowerment
The minister of sport, Erastus Uutoni, has called on sport federations and local teams to buy their sporting gear from local manufactures as a way of empowering local industries.
He was taken on a tour of Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies in Windhoek on Monday, where he said sports and the manufacturing industry can work together in creating jobs and fighting poverty in Namibia.
“When I was attending a sporting event in Botswana, representing Namibia, I was given a T-shirt which was manufactured outside Namibia. I immediately thought to myself that we are paying millions of dollars every year to companies outside Namibia, while we can use that money to employ our youth,” Uutoni said.
He added that his idea is to encourage Namibian sports people to acquire locally produced apparel.
Uutoni said it pains him to see locally trained tailors sitting at home while money is being spent outside Namibia with the excuse that the country does not have modern machinery.
“We can start small and improve as we go on. I have a strong belief that the skills we develop will give us value out of it. While I admit we do not produce raw material to manufacture sportswear, we can actually do the manufacturing here but order that material from outside,” he said.
NAMPA
He was taken on a tour of Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies in Windhoek on Monday, where he said sports and the manufacturing industry can work together in creating jobs and fighting poverty in Namibia.
“When I was attending a sporting event in Botswana, representing Namibia, I was given a T-shirt which was manufactured outside Namibia. I immediately thought to myself that we are paying millions of dollars every year to companies outside Namibia, while we can use that money to employ our youth,” Uutoni said.
He added that his idea is to encourage Namibian sports people to acquire locally produced apparel.
Uutoni said it pains him to see locally trained tailors sitting at home while money is being spent outside Namibia with the excuse that the country does not have modern machinery.
“We can start small and improve as we go on. I have a strong belief that the skills we develop will give us value out of it. While I admit we do not produce raw material to manufacture sportswear, we can actually do the manufacturing here but order that material from outside,” he said.
NAMPA
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