Derek Klazen, Mayor of Walvis Bay, exchanges the formal friendship status documents with Chong Hongfeng, Deputy Mayor of Wenzhou.

The Chinese port city of Wenzhou has twinned with the town of Walvis Bay in a move that will promote trade between the two entities. A high level delegation from China, led by the Deputy Mayor of Wenzhou, Chong Hongfeng, visited Walvis Bay on 15 April. The City of Wenzhou has a population of more than seven million people, while Walvis Bay only has 65 000 residents.

Delegates from Wenzhou in China who visited Walvis Bay.

“This friendship will enhance our economies and promote trade between the two cities. We will also mobilise our business community to visit Walvis Bay with the aim of establishing joint ventures and trade relations with your port city,” said Chong.
The delegation toured the port facilities and listened to presentations from Walvis Bay municipal officials, the Export Processing Zone office, the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, and the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Authorities from NamPort delivered presentations on its operations at Walvis Bay, which is being promoted as an economic gateway to inland Africa.
In its meeting with the various commerce representatives, the delegation expressed interest in the available mineral resource, the crime rate, labour costs, fish species being caught commercially, the leather industry and the availability of water resources.
“We in Walvis Bay certainly believe that we will be more successful when we share our culture, resources and developmental goals with our friends. This can be realised through global partnerships for development as advocated for in the millennium development goals,” said the Mayor of Walvis Bay Derek Klazen.
The chairperson of the Walvis Bay office of the National Chamber of Commerce, John Savva, said that Walvis Bay could certainly reap the benefits of being associated with a city such as Wenzhou.
The people of Wenzhou are renowned for their business sense and the city’s commercial culture is more dominant than anywhere else in China, making it the most active and developed private economy on Mainland China.
Located in the southeastern Zhejiang province of China, Wenzhou is a prosperous foreign treaty port, known for its enterprising emigrants who left China to start restaurants, retail and wholesale businesses in Europe and America.
Wenzhou exports food, tea, wine, jute, timber, paper and alunite (a non-metallic mineral used to make alum and fertilizer). Its main industries include food processing, papermaking, low-voltage electric appliances, light industries and building material, with some engineering works producing mostly farm machinery.