Vanguard. TUESDAY. APRIL 17. 2012-21
BusinessC:ii Leverage FTZs to drive FDls in Nigeria, NEPZA tells FG 8y NICIRUKA NNOROM
HE Federal Government can exploit the instruments 01 Export Procesr;ing Zones to drive volumes of Forelgn Direct Investment (FOIl into the country, says Mr. Emmanuel Jegede, a senior executive 01 Nigeria EIport Processing Zone
T
_lion (NEPZA).
He mBdethe remark while presenting
a paper on -r1:e Future Role or Ena.nciaJ Players" in the recently concluded third Free lTade Zone Conference &
mechimistn 0( Esport Processing Zone. .. adding, "Our Gross Domestic Product. GOP, in 2009 by the Ceobal Bank of Nigeria. CBN, figures; stood at US3S.885billion and can only have a quantum leap through the mechanism o f Free Zone to make our products competitive in the ~t1ooa1 arena. "Great nations in the world today, especially the preeminent Gl were shot up to the Olympian econOmic height through their superior GOP and other siblings of human development indez:es," he stated.
Jegede identified diversifications of the revenue base of the economy, employment generation and eocowagement of export through local production as some of the benefits of Free TIade Zone. He listed unstahle and inconsistency in government policies. poor execution of the scheme leading to undesired deliverables , high cost of goods resulting in International Don compctiveness, undeveloped infrastructure like Power, good road,
RaU as some of the chaUenges confronting FTZ operators as well as inadequate funding through low intereslloan to firms WIthin the zone. He further observed that banks operating within the FTZ enjoy innumerable benefit, including, freedom to move funds in and oul of the Zone. exemption of aU documents hom stamp duties, as well as exemption [rom withholding tax requirement 00 interest payable on deposit. dividends and royalties, among other benefits.
Exhibition in lagos. Heobserved !.bat nations like DUBAI. Singapore, Clina that an! now Lowist destinations. had at diHe.renl times taken advan1a!)e of FI7.s in their clime and are earning massive foreign exchange b~cfluse of their productive advantage. Hesaid, "NiCJena has been trumpeted to be amon9s1 the leading induslrlal nations in 2(21) and one of the dnvers and instnun>.!Ilts that will unleash this economic qUlu llum leap 1$ through the
PETAN mobilises 2,000 delegates forOTC ByYEMIE ADEOVE
A
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Nl!lerian oU and gas indusl ry gears up for this year's
ediHon 01 the annual Offshore
Tecbnologr Conference (OTe) scheduled to lake place in Houston, TailS, the umbrelJ.a body of indigenous petroleum and oil service companies, Petroleum Tec:hnology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) has announced that over 2000 dcll'gates have been mobilised by the A§sociation to attend the conterena .....hich commences by the end of April The number ,)1partIcipants attending this year's edition being coordinated by PED\N with the support 0( U:ae Nigcnan National Pe troleum Corporallon (NNPC) has consolidated the association'!! ~::IJ.jevement recorded last year when N,geria recorded the fifth
;gooj:J~~i~~~~
excelle.nt
pportunity for positive
portrayal ft d promobon of the great potentials 0 Nigeria and the Nigerian Oil & Gas llstry. It also p 'cles a uniqueplaLform for
close inter clion between leading lntematio lind Nigenan Oil Service Companie I (IOCs), IndUstry ExecutiIl'l'!S, - JVemment l\)licy Makers and Pohhc leaders, to share ideas on the Nigeria I OUlndusby in a relaxed and condu VI' atmospbere. lniJrmab n ~athered from 2012 arc Committee o ~ PETAN revealed that com"""'.. , indudmg tbe Nige "National Petroleum Corporatiol f"NPC) will be part of a robust con gent to underscore the dynamlJlfU d potential of Nigena's Petroleum Ill<iustry.
"",.aJ "lg~rian
MinislfY of lr.uJsporl. S~a lor Jdris V lIJ ar (ri?btJ admiring a souvenir lrom Governor Uyel /m ok e 01 Cros5 Jljver $ liI.le ",b eD fbe minister p aid blm. C'Ourlesy visit prior to the ministry's three day retrea t in CaJabar:
Agric transformation: FG targets N1.25bn fish feed per annum I N ISTE R of Stale (or Agricullwe and Rural Development, Mr Bukar 1Jjani. has said that the Agricultwallhmsformation Agenda of the ministry would produce N 1.25 billion worth of fish feed per annum. Theministersaid this in Abuja w hile inspecting some farm products on edlibition at the 2"" Abaji Fishing Festival at River Gurara i.n the Yaba Development Area in Abaji Area Council 01 the FCI: He said that aquacuJlure had been identified as an important strategy in the global 6ght against poverty. According to him, the minislry has identified the development of aquacuJlure as one of the key areas for aUention under the Agricultural lhmsformatinn Agenda. -'Tbe goal is to create an enabling environment for increased and sustainable production 01 over one million tonnes of aquaculture fish and to generate 500,000 jobs in five yean und er a four-year work plan. Nigeria can be a maior food exporting country, if we do
M
things right •• , he said . He called on slates and the FCT to be involved 10 achieving this goal under the Agricultural TIansformation Acbon Plan. Tijani said that the plan would ensure the prod uction of 400,000 tonnes of fish feed per year and additinnal production 01250,000 tonnes of table fish per year He noted that fish importation was among Nigeria's top tow- imports, with the country spending about N97 billion on fish unportalion yearly. According to him, Nigeria 's food importation is growing at a n UDSlL.. l1linable rate of 11 per cent per annum, adding that import dependency was not acceptable or sustainable. The mlDister noted that these challenges confronting the country necessitated the Agricultural 1rnnsfonnation Agenda that would wake up Nigeria to and begin to do things dillerenUy by producing to feed the teeming population.
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