Nigerian industrialists may soon heave a sigh of relief as the Federal Government partners the Peoples’ Republic of China to promote trade and investment in the most populous black nation.
To address the ongoing quest for sustainable growth and development, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, stated that FG is set to learn from the experiences of China and build accelerated investment in the country adding that the China miracle is one that provides very many useful lessons from which Nigeria can borrow, and is borrowing.
“We met with the senior government and private sector officials from China, as well as representatives from academia and development finance institutions to discuss the way forward for Nigeria. Nigeria is keenly taking advantage of the difficult economic conditions arising from the sharp fall in oil prices, to restructure its economy. Our principal economic policy direction in Nigeria is to diversify the economy, away from the longstanding traditional reliance on oil exports. We are taking steps to structurally transform the economy, so as to restore growth and create jobs,” he said.
According to the Minister, the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council would provide the much needed incentives and ‘aftercare’ services to investors, as well as proactively create regular opportunities for investor engagement. He went on to list some of the steps the government is taking: Strategically aligning monetary, fiscal and structural policies, to engender much-needed investor confidence; Creating a private-sector driven Presidential Council on Ease of Doing Business that will initiate and implement far-reaching business environment reforms.
