Lagos — Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudden Usman has said the upcoming National Economic Summit slated for December 5 will create more investment opportunity for Nigeria.

Speaking at a press conference on the 18th Nigerian Economic Summit with theme "Deregulation, Cost of Governance and Nigeria's Economic Prospects" in Lagos on Friday, Usman said the summit would be used to create the necessary momentum and galvanize domestic and international investment for the country, especially in infrastructure.

According to him, this year's summit agenda built on the momentum of Nigeria's successful deregulation of the telecoms, banking, insurance and aviation sectors, is to examine the need for the deregulation of the remaining critical sectors of the economy, such as agricultural, power, transportation, healthcare, oil and gas which collectively account for close to 60 per cent of Nigeria's GDP, he said.

The minister noted that the summit has become the largest and foremost economic platform for public and private sector policy makers and industry leaders across Nigeria.

"Over the past 18 years, the summit has contributed immensely to strengthening the dialogue between the public and private sectors, on issues relating to the social economic development of the country. The outcomes of the summit have also played an important role in positively influencing government policies, since the inception of the summit process".

Usman said the government is determined to hold people accountable, to ensure greater efficiency and effectiveness of both the public and private sectors anchored on global best practices.