TAKING BAYELSA TO THE WORLD AND BRINGING THE WORLD TO BAYELSA VIA BAYELSA ECONOMIC AND INVESTMENT FORUM Since The Economist regrettably labelled Africa “the hopeless continent” a decade ago, a profound change has taken hold. Labour productivity has been rising and It is now growing by, on average, 2.7% a year. Trade between Africa and the rest of the world has increased by 200% since 2000, and this among others, gives leverage to States like Bayelsa to showcase its economic potentials to the world, thereby bringing the world to Bayelsa via its economic and investment forum. Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson while speaking during the official unveiling of the Bayelsa Economic and Investment Forum with the theme, Unlocking Bayelsa State’s Economic Potentials: Opportunities and Challenges, in Yenagoa, reiterated his commitment to diversifying the states economy and driving investment into bayelsa, highlighting vast economic potentials in the areas of Gas, Oil, Agriculture,ICT, Infrastructure, tourism, among others His words; Bayelsa is safe and ready for business. Policies to enable an investor friendly environment are already in place, and I assure you all of Governments commitment and transparency in all dealings. We are number one in everything, as the first oil well was first discovered in bayelsa, the number one citizen of Nigeria, in the person of President Jonathan is from Bayelsa. Discussion ranged from Governments intention to establish SME offices in every locality of the state to afford accessibility by citizens, building the Education sector to world class standard, continuous development in the area of infrastructure, security, ICT, Agriculture, stable power, manpower development and the need for massive investment in Bayelsa. Minister of petroleum, Deziani Allison Madueke in her opening remark said, the federal government has taken practical steps to deepen its partnership with Bayelsa on a number of projects, including the Brass Liquified Natural Gas (BLNG). She further said, the final investment decision (FID) will be reached in the first quarter of next year, as the federal government intends to create more jobs in the state through various programmes, using the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring board. The petroleum minister again said, work on a pipe mill development project at Polaku in Yenagoa local government area was ongoing in addition to the proposed industrial park at Otuoke. Also, Dr Aganga who heads the federal ministry of trade and investment in his opening speech showered Gov Dickson with enconiums for putting together a laudable summit, where potential investors can access first hand knowledge directly from source and questions bothering on safety and returns on their investment answered. The Minister for Technology & ICT, Dr mobolaji Johnson emphasized the need to educate youths on ICT and infrastructure development. She revealed her ministrys readiness to work with Bayelsa government, in building ICT centers in every LGA in Bayelsa, free supply of computers/laptops for every Bayelsan child among others, once a Memorandum of understanding can be reached. MOUs worth Billions of Dollars involving every sector will be signed at the end of the forum as investors have indicated great interest. Report by Blessing Oyanimigha For Bayelsa Social Media Committee
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 17:37:01 +0000
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