Vice-Minister, Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Simon Smits, has said his country would double its investment in Nigeria from its current 8 billion Euros (N1.656 trillion) “in the coming years”.
Smits disclosed this at the weekend, during a meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, in Abuja.
He said: “Many of our businesses have been active and committed in Nigeria for over 50 years. What I have observed during the past few days of my visit in Nigeria is that when I spoke with both business people from Nigerian and Netherlands, they said the opportunities in Nigeria out-weigh the challenges. That is what I think is the right way to do business.
“Investments from the Netherlands to Nigeria now total about eight billion Euros. How-ever, there is always room for improvement. So, we hope to see the doubling of this investment in the coming years, and also in the balance of trade between the two countries.
“A number of our businesses have been into various sectors of the Nigerian economy for many decades. Obviously, they would not have still been here if Nigeria is not profitable for them because business is a two-way thing. The beautiful thing for business, trade and investment is that there are no winners or losers. It is always a win-win situation because if you don’t do it as partners, and on the basis of respect and long term commitment, then you are out of business at all times. And the fact that we are still around in Nigeria shows that some of our businesses have found the right place to do business. This is good for Nigeria and also for the Netherlands.”
While commending the Federal Government for its on-going efforts at transforming the country’s economy and improve the welfare of its citizens, Smits stated that the government of the Netherlands partnered Nigeria to improve the bilateral trade relationship between the two countries.
He said: “I am convinced that trade and investment are the drivers of change, development and wealth creation. Therefore, it is the responsibility of my government and any other government to take care of its people. We have visited some places in Nigeria such as Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.”
Speaking during the meeting, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said the Federal Government would collaborate with the government and investors from the Netherlands to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the country.
He said: “Nigeria has a very long history with the Netherlands. Some of their companies have been in Nigeria for more than 40 years and they have been doing very well. So, we have a lot of things in common. They have had their Dutch Disease and we have learnt from them. That was why we created the Sovereign Wealth Fund as a tool for economic growth, development and wealth creation.
“The mandate of the Ministry of Trade and Investment involves attracting investments across all sectors of the Nigerian economy, as well as facilitating domestic, regional and international trade. There is no doubt that we have great potentials as a country but time has come for us to realise these potentials. And to be able to realise these, we need to attract investments into the country because we cannot rely entirely on budgetary allocation to develop or narrow our infrastructure deficit and develop the real sector of our economy.
“Nigeria is blessed with arable land and abundant mineral resources and raw materials. But what we have not been able to do in these past years is to develop our these resources to create jobs, generate wealth and transform our economy This is one area that we want to collaborate with the government and investors from the Netherlands.”
No comments:
Post a Comment