FG expresses support for small, medium enterprises

At the first presidential breakfast meeting presided over by President Umaru Yar’Adua, at the banquet hall of the presidential villa, Abuja, the president said all business transactions would adhere to the rule of law and zero tolerance for corruption.

"This has informed our unequivocal commitment and strict adherence to the rule of law, transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption in the context of government business.

" The private sector is being encouraged to raise the quality of investments to attain a level of higher activity and to benchmark against international best practices in order to raise Nigeria’s productivity and global competitiveness."

He stressed the readiness of government to " intensify implementation of supportive policies to boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs), further reduce interest rate, reduce the nation’s poverty and unemployment and sustain economic prospect." The president noteed that the drive of government "is for a sustained double digit GDP annual production."

"I recognise that the level of trust and development which we have committed to this administration to achieving is not realisable without the firm support and partnership of the organised private sector."

This informs our keenness in energising the existing partnership with the private sector in the genuine investors who are willing not only to explore the enormous investment opportunities that abound in Nigeria, but also to drive the growth of our economy," the president said.

He said government’s "key economic policies as encapsulated in our seven-point agenda are aimed at fostering a good business environment."

The breakfast meeting, Yar’Adua noted, "is expected to create the requisite platform for the government policy thrust and projectively engage our vibrant private sector in responding to the challenges thrown by the vision 2020."

"We have to tackle the challenges in the energy, transportation, human capital and security sectors in such a manner to make the enterprise flourish in this country. Let me also assure you that why our administration will continue to vigorously pursue and develop foreign direct investment to support rapid economic growth, we are also aggressively promoting domestic private investment in order to promote our own growth processes," he said.

The president said that "conscious effort is being made to develop reforms targeted at reducing the cost of doing business in Nigeria," stressing that the NIPC "is being empowered to provide first-class business services to boost domestic and foreign investments."

Additionally, he said, government agencies were being empowered to monitor the sector with a view to improving the level of participation of both local and foreign investors to ensure full sector recovery and to further ensure that investors get investment approvals .

The federal government Yar’Adua noted has prepared "Incentive package to ensure policy consistency, sustainability and level playing field for all."

Yar’Adua assured multinational companies operating in Nigeria of his administration’s support. He however, stressed the need for "alliances with domestic investors to boost" the nation’s economy.

The president said : "The SMEs are expected to benefit from the increased local development needs of outsourcing and expand market access both in Nigeria, within the West African sub-region and internationally.

Earlier in his welcome address, Mustapha Bello, executive secretary of the NIPC, said government "is certainly critical to the attainment of this 202020 project."

He said; "There is need therefore to develop our power, transportation, and other essential sectors particularly the natural gas networking project that will network super sources of energy."

Bath Ebong, the group managing director of Union Bank, thanked the president for the initiative and expressed the readiness of the banking sector to support the economic programmes of the Federal Government.

He said with the robust state of the banking sector in the country, "we have the capacity to contribute our quota to the realisation of the vision 2020 programme of the government."

Raymond Dokpesi, who spoke on behalf of the media, urged government to remove those laws that impinge on the overall development of the sector.

Gyam Buba, comptroller-general of customs, said for the programme to succeed, "we need a change of attitude."

"The whole thing is a welcomed development because talking together ensures that areas of misunderstanding and contradictions are cleared. This forum will ensure that things are done properly with a view to bettering the economy," he said.