The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday reiterated the need for the Federal Government to show more commitment to the promotion of investment-friendly policies as a strategic option of attracting capital into the economy and positioning it on the path of sustainable growth.
The President of the organized private sector (OPS) group, Babatunde Paul Ruwase, made this remark during the opening ceremony of the 2019 Lagos International Trade Fair in Lagos.
While assuring the continued readiness of the chamber to continue to engage government through its advocacy programmes to ensure that its policies engender a more confidence among investors, Ruwase pointed out that the generic theme for the group’d trade fair ‘Connecting Businesses, Creating Value’ underscored the importance of a robust business interactions to generate wealth and create value for the advancement of the Nigerian economy and the welfare of the citizens.
He said: “Our economic and investment policies must be friendly to make Nigeria a major investment hub in Africa. We need the right policies as well as strong commitment to infrastructural development to revive investors’ confidence in our economy.
“Our policies must be one that supports the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, so they can impact substantially on the economy in terms of growth, job creation and value generation.
“We believe that the goal to rank among the top 70 countries on the Doing Business Ranking by 2023 is achievable. Achieving this objective however requires the combined efforts of both government and private sector”, the LCCI President stressed.
According to him, the force of globalisation has reinforced the need to connect businesses, noting that “UNCTAD research has shown that business linkages represent one of the best ways for SMEs to enhance their competitiveness and acquire a series of critical missing assets, such as access to international markets, finance, technology, management skills and specialized knowledge”.
He said that this year’s Trade fair remained different from previous ones and one of the latest initiatives is the creation of a special hall for exhibitors from other African nations tagged ‘Africa Hall’.
Ruwase explained further that creating a platform to promote trade and bilateral relations was of utmost importance to the chamber and that the group was committed to ensuring that the business environment is enabling for all investors.
The LCCI President said that as a policy advocacy group, “our programmes and activities are geared towards facilitating the realisation of the economic and social objectives of the government and making Nigeria an attractive destination for investment.”
