The International Trade Center (ITC), an agency
of the United Nations (UN), has urged Nigeria to employ competitiveness agenda,
standards and value-addition in order to achieve greater economic
transformation.
Miss Arancha Gonzalez, the Executive Director of the Center made the remarks on
May 7, 2014, at a Stakeholders’ Roundtable meeting organized by the Nigerian
Export Promotion Council in Abuja. The Abuja session was an offshoot from
discussions at Geneva when Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, Chief Executive officer(CEO) of Nigerian
Export Promotion Council paid her a
Courtesy Visit, early this year.
Gonzalez said that the value-addition approach to trade would help in
leveraging the abundant potentials of the country’s small and medium
enterprises.
According to Gonzalez ``Our focus is on how to better leverage the potentials
of the small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. They are the future engine
for growth but most importantly for job creation for the many women and
youths that are in the job market.
`` In productivity, building on quality, building on standards, building on
branding, making sure that the skills of Nigerian entrepreneurs are up to
internationally acceptable standards are important’’.
Also, Gonzalez said that Nigeria must ensure that business activities
develop along the strength of the country, adding that what would make
Nigeria a greater nation were within the country. She identified that Nigeria
has a huge untapped potential in the agro process and services sectors. The International Trade Center Chief Executive promised to assist the country in capacity building of entrepreneurs.
Miss González underscored the importance of supporting the private sector,
particularly the small and medium scale enterprises(SME), to become incubators of growth, innovation and poverty
reduction. She stated that small and medium scale enterprises which make up the vast majority of businesses
in Nigeria and Africa as a whole require tools to help increase their
competitiveness and to internationalize them. She noted the vital pillars for
sustainable economic growth in Nigeria which rest on its infrastructure such
as electricity, connectivity, finance, technology and trade. These factors
are critical to foreign investment and small and medium scale enterprises growth.
According to her, all the issues raised in the meeting in form of requests
could be documented into a Strategic Development Plan for consideration and
sent to the Center for onward review, study and possible assistance.
For Mr. Awolowo, Executive Director/CEO of Nigeria Export promotion council , the convener of the meeting,
the platform had availed local entrepreneurs the opportunity to ponder on the
importance of value- addition.
In the Chief executive officer's words ``One important thing we have put before them International Trade Center is
training Nigerian companies so that they can bid for United Nations programmes and share
in the services/donor windows offered.
``The United Nations programmes generate about $90 billion yearly, no Nigerian company
has been able to bid successfully, yet Nigeria contributes a lot to the UN
and to peace keeping, particularly in West Africa.
``For instance, we have not been able to really benefit from AGOA, because of
our packaging and other issues on standards”.
The Round table dialogue attracted participants from all Agencies under the
Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, the Privates Sector as well as
local and foreign non-state actors in the non-oil export sector. |
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