WINDHOEK, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Namibian Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein on Thursday expressed his desire to see a rapid conclusion from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) to find an agreeable and fair revenue-sharing formula.
SACU was established in 1910 and is the oldest existing customs union in the world. It is a union among five countries in Southern Africa -- Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho.
Schlettwein told Xinhua that Namibia wants a "fair" share of the revenue inflows from the customs union.
"We are continuing with deliberations with other member states but what we are keen on is to conclude these negotiations as soon as possible and come up with a sharing formula that we presume is 'fair' to all member states not only favoring one nation," Schlettwein said.
The minister said the current revenue-sharing formula for SACU favors the regional economic hub South Africa at the expense of smaller member states.
"There is a need to come up with a formula that encourages industrial development in other smaller countries. We also feel we need to get what is duly deserved by us in relation to the customs and excise on a member basis," said Schlettwein.
Schlettwein said Namibia generates about 40 percent of its budgetary funds from the SACU revenue pool.
The current SACU revenue-sharing formula has three components -- customs, an excise component and a development component. Customs earnings are shared on the basis of each country's intra-SACU imports.
