The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Aisha Abubakar, says the Federal Government is open to signing an industrial agreement with Indonesia.
She stated this when an Indonesian business delegation led by the country’s ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Harry Purwanto, visited her in Abuja, a statement from the ministry said on Tuesday.
According to the statement, signed by Maryam Yusuf, a Deputy Director, Abubakar also stressed the government’s resolve to strengthen the business relations between both countries.
The statement reported her as assuring the delegation that the economic relations between Nigeria and the Asian country would receive a boost under the current administration.
It said this was necessary to attract more Indonesian investors to the country in line with the government’s economic diversification agenda.
The statement gave the government’s assurance to the international business community that vigorous efforts were being made to improve the country’s investment climate.
It reported Purwanto as telling the minister that the visit was aimed at enhancing bilateral relations between both countries in view of Nigeria’s enormous potential.
“He noted that Indonesia shared a lot of commodities with Nigeria, stressing that those should be harnessed to ensure greater interactions between the two nations. The ambassadors assured the minister that more Indonesian investors would be encouraged to come to Nigeria to join their nationals who have made huge investments here.
He also urged Nigeria to reciprocate the gesture by encouraging its citizens to invest in his country as the Indonesian government was also doing everything to enhance its business environment.
Purwanto emphasised the need for an industrial pact between both countries’’, the statement said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria and Indonesia enjoy good bilateral relations with the volume standing at about 2.8 billion dollars in 2014.
Purwanto had told NAN in April that oil imports formed the bulk of Indonesia’s contribution to the figure, adding that Nigeria was his country’s second largest source of oil after Saudi Arabia.
According to him, Nigeria’s import from Indonesia within the period under review is between 600 and 700 million dollars.
Both countries signed a multi-billion naira airline and aircraft maintenance agreement with some trade pacts in February 2013.
Nigeria has an industrial development blueprint, officially known as the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which was launched in 2013.
(NAN)
