Imo State government and Bluefield Associates Incorporated, an American property firm, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a residential estate and an industrial park in the state under a private-public-partnership (PPP) arrangement.

The deal was sealed recently when a former US ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Sanders, led a delegation of the American investors to Owerri, the state capital.

She assured that, if the PPP works out well, it would enable Imo State have to access funds for development from international agencies, while expressing confidence that the evolving partnership would create job opportunities.

Vice President, Bluefield Associates, K.C Obioha, said his firm would provide the initial equity, management as well as fund the project, whose cost was not immediately disclosed.

In his remark, Governor Rochas Okorocha assured the visiting US investors that the state government was ready provide all the necessary economic incentives and land for the projects.