Visiting Mikhail Fradkov said: "Economic cooperation with this country [Namibia] is lagging behind political dialogue," and urged cooperation between the two countries' ministries and departments involved to implement joint projects in the development of uranium deposits, energy, diamond production and fishing.
Fradkov said establishing a financial engineering company with VTB Bank and Capricorn Investment Holding, Namibia's financial industrial group, could be a financial basis for economic cooperation.
The Russian premier said measures should be taken to improve the efficiency of the bilateral economic cooperation commission and the legislative base of bilateral ties.
"We are optimistic about the future of our relations with Namibia," Fradkov said.
In July 2006, VTB and Capricorn Investment Holding set up a joint venture in Namibia. Under the contract, VTB's share in the authorized capital of VTB Capital (Namibia) (PTY) Ltd. will be 50% plus 2 shares.
The company is primarily designed to attract Russian businesses and investment to the Namibian market and African countries south of the Sahara Desert to develop jointly the most lucrative projects in the region, including securing international financing for projects.
