The government of Namibia is negotiating with two Chinese companies on establishing a plant to manufacture foot and mouth disease vaccine.
Addressing a press conference in the capital Windhoek Tuesday, agriculture minister John Mutorwa said they have identified the land in the north of the country where the plant will be built.
Mutorwa said the foot and mouth disease vaccine plant has been one of the ministry's capital projects but it could not be implemented for lack of technical partners.
"It is therefore our great pleasure to now engage the AFECC and Jinyu Group to realize, practically, this important national assignment," Mutorwa said.
The two companies are Jinyu Group, which specializes in biopharmaceuticals manufacturing and is involved in research and production of veterinary vaccines, and AFECC, which is a multi-operational business engaged in international project contracting and mineral resources development, among others.
Details of the plant, the minister said, will be announced next week.
Namibia, which has about two million cattle, is prone to outbreaks of foot and mouth disease with the latest reported in May this year.
Although the outbreak was contained, it cost the country 157 million Namibian dollars (about 12 million U.S dollars) and a state of emergency to contain the outbreak.
