{"id":5348,"date":"2013-06-22T11:26:55","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T11:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/investors-council-meet-in-abuja-to-discuss-nigerias-huge-economic-potential\/"},"modified":"2013-06-22T11:26:55","modified_gmt":"2013-06-22T11:26:55","slug":"investors-council-meet-in-abuja-to-discuss-nigerias-huge-economic-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/investors-council-meet-in-abuja-to-discuss-nigerias-huge-economic-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors council meet in Abuja to discuss Nigeria\u2019s huge economic potential"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Citizens Platform<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

President Goodluck Jonathan has hosted the Coordinator of the 14th Honorary International Investor Council (HIIC)Baroness Lynda Chalker at the council meeting which was held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja between the 20th and 21th of June, 2013.
The two-day meeting was attended by the Vice President, Arch. Mohammed Namadi Sambo, GFR,\u00a0 the Economic Ministers led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman and 10 members of the Council; Alec Erwin, Olivier Suinat, Haruki Hayashi, Guillaume Roux, Jim Ovia, Jacques Maraud des Grottes, Andrew Brown, Emmanuel Ijewere, David Haworth, Femi Otedola, Aliko Dangote, Umar Mutallab, Simon Harford, Sam Jonah.
The Council reviewed the state of the economy through presentations made by Council Members and the Economic Ministers. Council further offered suggestions on how to sustain the delivery of good governance, improve national and international perception, and increase private participation in the re-engineering of the economy.
According to a press house state release by SA media to the President Dr. Reuben Abati, the council commended the Administration on progress attained in the implementation of Council\u2019s recommendations particularly those of developing performance matrix for the administration and all government agencies and departments, the council commended the government for the proactive management of the economy that has stabilized currency against international currencies and curtailed the inflation rate within single digit during the last two years, the council also commended government for focusing on the manufacturing sector and urged that its existing incentive regime including the 5 years tax holiday, and the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) be maintained to further support the sector to achieve the target of 20% contribution to GDP.
Also, the plans to transform the aviation industry which was hinged on a well thought-out visionary plan that proposes to make Nigeria a regional hub was highly commended. The council however urged government to restrict its involvement to setting standards while maximizing private sector participation in the sector; with minimal public sector participation.
While commending the government on the development in the Agriculture revolution taking place in the value chain, it encouraged government to intensify its commitment and consistently review its strategies in order to sustain the achievements.
The council observed the growing unemployment rate and the rising number of poor skilled workforce which was associated with the poor state of the educational system. It therefore urged Federal Government to improve on its synergy with the other tiers of government and the industry in order to build basic education geared towards enhancing capacity of the workforce for industrialization of the economy.
Baroness chalker and her team encouraged government to proactively sell positive story about Nigeria to the international audience through the media for the purpose of enhancing the image of the country as the preferred investment destination in Africa.
They noted the increasing interest shown by international investing community on the Nigerian economy; an indication of improved perception and confidence of the international community on the management of the Nigerian economy.
The Council\u00a0 looked forward to timely restoration of normalcy in\u00a0 the Nothern region in order to improve the country\u2019s image internationally.
The huge potential of the economy in gas and efforts of government at enhancing capacity for exploitation to promote industrialization was also discussed, the Council however urged government to review gas pricing to make it globally competitive.
The team urged government to sustain its investment in building the physical infrastructure of the economy such as power generation & transmission, roads and rail, and airports in order to enhance the global competitiveness of Nigeria\u2019s business environment.
The council however\u00a0 resolved to support the Federal government in tackling the challenge of oil theft. The Council further committed to offer help in getting international engagement to stop the crime and attendant environmental degradation.
The council resolved to further complement government\u2019s efforts in fighting corruption, Council adopted the \u2018Clean Business Nigeria Today\u2019 (CBNT) initiative as a means of integrating the private sector into the efforts of government to frontally deal with the issues of corruption. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will serve as the Grand Patron of the initiative.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigeria News. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Citizens Platform<\/p>\n

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