President Hifikepunye Pohamba this week urged players in the diamond industry to set up factories and manufacture finish goods in the country. “We would like to see finished goods produced locally, using locally mined diamonds,” said Pohamba, when he officially opened the Julius Klein Group (JKG) Inc.’s diamond cutting and polishing factory in Windhoek this week. Pohamba commended the Julius Klein Group (JKG) for choosing Namibia as a location  for their newest cutting and polishing factory.

“This new factory adds to the growing number of similar ventures that have opened their doors in recent years,” he said.
Pohamba said the creation of the facility is realised through investment in machinery, as well as training and recruitment of personnel.
This investment represents a positive inflow of foreign direct investment into our economy which we welcome. We also welcome an initiative by the company to train young Namibian in the art of diamond cutting and polishing,” he added.
This transfer of skills, he said, will position the trainees to participate in the global diamond cutting and polishing industry as skilled artisans.
He pointed out that the promotion of value addition is a critical element on the quest to industrialize the economy.
“This will enable Namibians to derive more benefits from our natural resources,” Pohamba said.
Namibia is endowed with the best quality gem diamonds in the world.
“We should, therefore, add value to them locally as a way of local beneficiation of these resources,” Pohamba stated. Namibia produces some two million carats of diamonds annually.
“We would like to see more of this output being cut and polished locally. We would like to see finished goods produced locally, using locally mined diamonds,” Pohamba said.