Chris Agabi
5 November 2008
Lagos — At the Economist Conference holding this month in Abuja, world leaders in economic solutions and development will offer an opportunity for straight-talk on major issues in the country, with aims to transform the FCT into a business hub and improve business climate in Nigeria.
The roundtable will gather together top business people from around the world to assist the Nigerian government's plans to achieve a commercial hub status for Abuja, Nigeria's capital city.
This is coming at the heels of government plans to build a boulevard in Abuja to propel commerce in the capital city.
It is also at the wake of Nigeria's poor ratings in investing climate by Doing Business 2008 report where Nigeria is considered poor in good investment climate.
A statement from the event promoters, the Quadrant Company, indicated that, "major issues to be discussed are the development of business in Abuja; competitive advantages-plans on how to improve the country's business climate; and major investment opportunities to be harnessed in the FCT."
Topics for discussions include Abuja's current major investment projects; President Yar'Adua's vision for the next decade; and his ambition to position Abuja among the top 20 cities in the world by the year 2020."
Expected to attend the roundtable conference are senior members of the government, business leaders from multinational companies and experts from The Economist Group. They are expected to take part in the debate of the key issues and answer questions from the audience of international executives, it noted.
According to the statement, "the meeting will also provide a networking forum for investors and international corporations to raise their concerns and expectations of the government in areas such as reliable power supply, business-friendly regulations and qualified manpower."
The Roundtable is part of an established annual gathering for local and international businesses in Nigeria, with outstanding independent debate led by the Economist Group experts.
Economist Conferences is a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit.
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