The Omaheke Regional Council and the US Embassy have agreed to cooperate in the areas of agriculture, rural development, and health care.
US Ambassador Randy Berry paid a courtesy visit to the region's leadership at Gobabis.
Omaheke Governor Pijoo Nganate shared the region's goals for development and self-sufficiency and welcomed a partnership with the US government as an opportunity to learn from the world's most renowned industrialized nation.
"As much as we have been talking about America, we haven't talked about twinning agreements between us and other regions in America with 50 states, and our 14 regions have no partnership so far, and in terms of the towns, you talk of Texas in America and Texas in Omaheke, and that collaboration has not been forthcoming, and maybe you can be a record breaker here and also inform his excellency about our innovation and incubation village what we are aiming at and also the diversification that we are doing in the region in terms of the crop now and dairy industry."
The Chairperson of the Regional Council, Ignatius Khariseb, called for a priority list to ensure that all seven constituencies of Omaheke are considered during talks of development.
"That's the stand of the region, and I was looking beyond what the governor has said; we have 7 constituencies with different needs in terms of development, whether it's education or whatever, so I'm more pleading with your office maybe to get to that level of us getting possible interventions in terms of maybe these are the other things you need to do as a region in order to acquire services from your offices."
US Ambassador Randy Berry noted the significance of Namibia's agriculture sector for exports to the US, saying the embassy would listen with keen interest to identify areas where it could assist in helping the industry become more sustainable.
Health and exchange programs were also on the agenda.
"There are a couple of ways that I want to mention that we are engaged here in Omaheke. I have been taking a look at the Epako Health Clinic, where we have a partnership as our center for disease control spots some opportunities to provide health care for the people of your town. I'll check in on how that's going, and this evening I'll see young citizens who have previously benefited from our exchange programs, such as innovators, entrepreneurs, or retiring politicians and leaders, and I'll nominate them into programs so that they can continue to share experiences on exchange programs."
The US representative also revealed that the Peace Corps volunteer project was undergoing a revamp, which should culminate in various experts being deployed into local communities.