The annual Crayfish Festival creates a platform for the development of the domestic economy of Luderitz as well as for the fulfillment of the increasing need for intercultural dialogue.
The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, said this when he officially opened the festival.
The annual festival that is being held this year under the theme 'Our Ocean-Our Legacy' serves as an enabler for the harbor town's economy and positions it as a tourist destination.
"I am confident that during this week, the town of Luderitz will offer the festival participants so many diverse cultural experiences and treat visitors to delicious seafood delicacies, entertainment, and the opportunity to learn about the development ambitions of this harbor town as it takes baby steps in transiting to hopefully becoming a city in the foreseeable future."
Also speaking at the occasion was the ||Kharas Governor, Luderitz Mayor, and Chief Human Resources and Corporate Affairs of MTC, which is the main sponsor of the festival.
"The Crayfish Festival platform has the potential to position Luderitz as major tourism and investment destination in Namibia. As we can see, the Crayfish Festival has a transformational impact on the social and economic landscape of Luderitz as it provides an opportunity for SMEs to showcase their products and services. In the social domain, the Crayfish Festival serves as a social tool for people to reconnect and interact with each other."
"This festival had now proven itself as stable, strong, and necessary, last year we had 42 stalls, and this year we had 62 stalls, 45 stalls only for delicious fresh seafood including crayfish, oyster, abalone, fish, black mussels, and many more, 15 stalls for various markets and 20 for corporate, we also provide free community donation stalls to the Ministry of Prison and Women Empowerment."
"This morning I really want to address a very disturbing trend especially black people that have the people to destroy this country, if not addressed urgently, these are the disturbing trend of tribalism and black-on-black hate. I choose to speak about this very comfortably this morning because I after all in a town that embraces national diversity," said MTC's Chief of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, Tim Ekandjo.
A delegation from Northern Cape Province in South Africa also graced the festivities as part of a twinning agreement between the province and the ||Kharas Region.