The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation has called on Namibia to take advantage of the Joint Commission of Cooperation with Venezuela.

Nandi-Ndaiwah was speaking during the closing of the inaugural session of the Namibia-Venezuela Joint Commission for Cooperation in Windhoek.

The joint commission focuses on areas such as mining, housing and urban development, agriculture, food security, education, the arts and culture, gender equality, and trade.

"It's my hope that those sectors are necessary ingredients for a successful recipe that defines the future cooperation between our countries. I encourage that each sector explores opportunities at a technical level that speak to employment creation, skill transfer, and economic upliftment."

Nandi-Ndaitwah commended Venezuela for having the capacity to cater to more than 80% of the food needs of its population of 30 million people, despite the sanctions.

"80% of the food they consume is produced in Venezuela, and that's why, in Namibia, there is a lot that we have to learn from Venezuela."

Namibia, Nandi-Ndaitwa says, is also looking into cooperating in the area of petroleum.

Venezuela intends to learn from Namibia's diamond mining sector, says Ivan Gil Pinto, its Minister for Foreign Relations.

"Bilateral relationships with Mother Africa are strengthened every day with the purpose of progressing in all the strategic areas that can contribute to the development of our people in the 21st century. This must be the center of the people that Venezuela and Namibia are destined to march together with, united with the conviction that, together, we can overcome any barriers or exclusion that has been imposed on our country by unjust international systems."

On this occasion, the two ministers signed a number of memoranda of understanding in various sectors.