Nigeria, Turkey explore bilateral trade, business opportunities at forum

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Turkey, Ismail Abba, has assured prospective investors from Turkey and Indonesia of a High Return on Investment (ROI) when they come to invest in critical sectors of the country’s economy.

This is contained in a statement by Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel-Berje, on Sunday at the Turkish-Nigeria Business Congress (TNBC) in Istanbul, Turkey.

The ambassador described Nigeria’s business environment as hospitable, stressing that there abound immeasurable opportunities waiting to be explored in the country.

Abba, who gave an overview of the investment climate in Nigeria, said the country represents a major economic driver of West Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Addressing the gathering, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika, said that the Federal Government’s efforts at overhauling, transforming and commercialising the Aviation Sector as one of the fastest growing sectors of the nation’s economy.

He said with a huge investment and robust turnaround of the Aviation, Railroad and other transportation systems, Nigeria would generate massive traffic hub and become a platform to extend investment opportunities across Africa.

Also speaking, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Malam Isah Pantami, represented by Ahmed Maska, an official in the ministry, highlighted efforts made by Nigeria to strengthen its communication and digital economy.

Pantami said that the country remains important in terms of investment opportunities due to its population and size.

He said the Forum provided a good opportunity for investors in communication and digital economy and other critical sectors.

The minister added that investment in smart technologies such as Surveillance and Rapid Respond technologies would curb insecurity in the country.

Gov. Abubakar Bello  of Niger State was at the Forum.

In his speech, Bello, who is also the Chairman North Central States Governor’s Forum (NCSGF), described Nigeria-Turkey bilateral relationship as mutually beneficial.

Bello, who identified technology transfer as fundamentally necessary to the growth and development of Nigeria, stressed the need for cooperation with the Turkish government in that direction.Bello said investment opportunities abound in Nigeria, but that the courage to take positive economic decision, open up and the will to invest in various aspect of comparative advantage by the investors, was absent in some instances.

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, also gave a brief of possible investment opportunities in the state as well as incentives provided by the state government for potential investors.

Governor of Jigawa state, represented by the Deputy Governor, Malam Umar Namadi, highlighted the potentials available in Jigawa, explaining that collaborating with Turkey would bring about rapid development and increase in economic activities.

Earlier, the Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Eddy Ganefo, highlighted his country’s trade and economic relationship with Turkey and expressed hope that such strategic cooperation would continue to wax stronger.

In his welcome address, representative of the organisers of the Business and Economic Forum, Dr Mohammed Obied, said Turkey, with its geo-strategical location, was capable of playing a major role establishing business relationship among the businessmen of Nigeria, Turkey and Indonesia.

He noted that a tripartite business and investment cooperation among the three countries was potentially big considering their sizes and with an estimated combined population of over 500 million.

Obied charged the gathering not to only identify business and investment opportunities, but also focus on the mechanism of making them work by concluding and executing all agreements reached.

The Turkish-Nigeria and Indonesia Forum is organised to increase awareness on investment and business opportunities for all the countries.

It is also to improve interaction between their business communities and to direct attention of the private sector in all countries toward areas of mutually beneficial investment opportunities.(NAN)