Daily Champion (Lagos)
Stan Okenwa
2 November 2009
Considering the fact China remains Nigeria's biggest trading partner, the Federal Government has urged the organised private sector to ensure that Chinese investors and importers employ best practices in their business transactions.
Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chief Achike Udenwa disclosed this while receiving members of the National Organising Committee on the forthcoming Nigeria-China Trade and Investment forum in Abuja.
Udenwa expressed regret that some Nigerians were using the opportunity to engage in fraudulent businesses by bringing in fake products and goods with reduced quality specifications.
Stressing that Nigeria recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China through the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), for both countries to check the influx of sub-standard goods into the country, the former governor of Imo State however refuted claims that more companies were leaving Nigeria than those coming in, saying: "I can assure you that for one investor going out of the country, two more are coming in".
He therefore urged the organisers to use the forum to ensure that more local producers engage in partnership with Chinese investors with technical closeness the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the agency charged with the mandate of educating and informing investors on investment procedures and opportunities.
The committee's visit, according to the Chairman of the forum, Alhaji Idris Waziri, was to brief the minister on the forum slated for Abuja from 9 to 11 November.
Waziri noted that the event would be one of the biggest in the annals of business relations between Nigeria and China, hinting that over 60 companies from China alone.
While revealing that planning for the show are the final stage of preparations, he explained that "we in the private sector are doing is to add value to what the government is doing by attracting investors into the country."
Coming with the theme: "Balancing Trade and Investment: Role of Private Enterprises" the organizing committee chairman disclosed that wife of the President, Turai Yar'Adua, who is the grand patroness of the forum, is expected to declare the forum open.
Indications are rife that the meet would be used to address certain negative issues bordering trade and investment between Nigeria and the Asian pirate economy.
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