An agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation was signed in Windhoek on Tuesday between the Chinese and Namibian governments.

The agreement was signed after Namibian Cabinet ministers and officials from various ministries held talks with Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong, who arrived in Namibia on Tuesday for a three-day official visit.

Minister of Presidential Affairs Albert Kawana, who is the Acting Director-General (DG) of the National Planning Commission (NPC), and Ambassador of China to Namibia Wei Ruixing signed the agreement.

The two also exchanged letters on the provision of office supplies and solar energy equipment to the Namibian government by the Chinese government.

During their talks, Liu highly spoke of the steady, healthy development of the relations between the two countries.

She said the substantial cooperation have been obtained on agriculture, mining and human resources. Great achievements have been made in exchanges of culture and education.

The state councilor also said China would like to work together with all African countries including Namibia to promote the development of people-to-people exchanges.

Namibia's Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku proposed future cooperation with China in visual and performing arts.

He said the Directorate of Arts in the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sports and Culture is keen to develop future relationships that will lead to bilateral exchanges in arts education, assistance in the development of small arts businesses, the promotion of arts through the exchange of information on arts and participation in events in the respective countries.

"This can be achieved through the development of ties between the relevant institutions responsible for these areas, such as the line ministries responsible for arts, arts education colleges, performance theaters, art galleries and organizers of events such as festivals and expos," he noted.

He also encouraged exchanges between musicians in the sphere of composition, conducting, and instrumental playing in both folklore and symphonic genres, and therefore invited China in the development of Namibia's National Symphony Orchestra.

Hausiku also proposed for scholarships in information and communication technology (ICT), particularly policy development and regulatory framework, and linkages with Chinese ICT institutions for exchange purposes.