By Miriam Humbe, Abuja
The Federal Government has assured Chinese investors of a continuous robust bilateral trade between the two countries.
Minister of State for Industry,Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum said this when a team of Chinese Investors from Hunan Province, China led by the Chinese Deputy Mayor, Mr. Kang Zhenlin paid a courtesy visit to the Minister in Abuja.
Deputy Director Press in the Ministry, Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa in a statement signed on Sunday said that Katagum appreciated the choice of Nigeria by the Province of Hunan in terms of investment and trade.
The Minister said that Nigeria played a significant role in economic development and African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA).
Ambassador Katagum said: “Nigeria has a large population with huge demand for goods and services and is open for businesses, we were able to look at how we can attract foreign direct investment, encouraging Investors to come in, invest and manufacture in the country within the context of AFCFTA.
The Minister said that to promote non-oil exports and reduce dependency on crude oil, Nigeria had opened Trade houses in various parts of the World such as in Lome, Togo; Nairobi-Kenya and Cairo, Egypt.
She said that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) recently opened a Trade house in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, China, to facilitate export of Nigeria products.
The Minister said that it would also enhance ease of doing businesses for Nigeria’s small enterprises that do not have the resources to contact large companies in China directly to export their goods and transact business.
She further said that in Africa, Nigeria had continued to be the number one trading partner with China, stating that, the volume of trade between the two countries stood at over 12.3 billion US dollars in 2021.
Ambassador Katagum promised the Chinese delegation that the Ministry would participate and mobilize a large number of Nigerian businesses to participate in the forthcoming China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in China.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Evelyn Ngige expressed optimism that the existing bilateral relationship between Nigeria and China would be sustained.
Represented by the Director, General Services Department, Mrs. Olabisi Lawal, the Permanent Secretary said that the Ministry would continue to provide a continuous economic investment guide to prospective investors in line with its mandate while.
She assured that the government of Nigeria would continue to provide an enabling business environment.
Deputy Mayor of Hunan Province, China, Mr. Kang Zhenlin who led the delegation said that the purpose of visit was to strengthen the cooperation between Nigeria and China on trade and bilateral relationships as well as to invite the Ministry to the forthcoming China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) taking place between 29th June to 2nd July, 2023.
China—Africa Economic And Trade Expo (CAETE) is an event held biennially and is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) and the People’s Government of Hunan Province.
It is committed to building a new mechanism for China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.
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