NIGERIAN EXPORT PROMOTION COUNCIL PARTNERSHIP WITH RAW MATERIAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL A WAY TO DEVELOPE NIGERIA PRODUCTS FOR EXPORT

The task of diversifying Nigeria economy from dependency on oil to non-oil got a boost on 18th June 2014 as the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Raw Material Research and Development Council (RMRDC), once more, agreed to synergize their activities to develop new products for export.
 
The sister organizations stressed this during a courtesy visit by the Executive Director/CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo to the Director-General of Raw Material Research and Development Counci, Dr. Hussein Ibrahim in Abuja.


Awolowo was of the view that the  Raw Material Research and Development Counci is one of the key organisations to the growth of the Nigerian economy given its resourcefulness in terms of researches conducted to enrich its data base and other complementary roles towards the development and promotion of non-oil export.

“We need to collaborate with your Agency to ensure the discovery of new products that could be exported with a view to increasing our revenue and diversifying from dependency on oil, tonon-oil” economy he added

Linking to the existing National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), Awolowo posited that there was need for both Agencies to continuously advocate for speedy implementation of the Plan to ensure that Nigeria gets on the list of top 20 economies by the year 2020.

He disclosed that Nigerian Export Promotion Council was also collaborating with the  Raw Material Research and Development Council towards the hosting of the 2nd International Symposium on Mycotoxin in nuts and dried fruits scheduled to hold in Abuja from September 8 –12, 2015.

Responding, Dr. Ibrahim said their  was  a closely working relationship with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to establish a Committee on Gum Arabic given the challenges of fluctuating fortunes of the product in the international market, due to stiff competition from other major exporters.

He summed that   Raw Material Research and Development Council was willing to partner Nigerian Export Promotion Council to ensure that Nigeria meets the requisite standards for export, by its exporters, hence the collaboration with Standards Organization of Nigeria.