Posted by By Emma Ujah & Dayo Lawal on
The federal government has said that the ban on the importation of soaps and detergent would be sustained in order to encourage local manufacturers and as an incentive for increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country.
The federal government has said that the ban on the importation of soaps and detergent would be sustained in order to encourage local manufacturers and as an incentive for increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country.
The Minister of Industry, Ambassador Fidelis Tapgun, stated this while launching the Lonamead Group, makers of Tura range of products, in Abuja on Tuesday. according to him, the federal government has a duty to protect local industries in the country against the widespread dumping of sub-standard products being imported from others nations of the world.
"Plans are under way to embark on the modernization of industries in the country, particularly, now that the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and Bank of Industry (BOI) have been restructured towards achieving the set goals," he said.
Tapgun, who was represented by Mr. K. B. Omolade, a Director in the Ministry, said the Federal Government was irrevocably committed to providing protection to local industries in the country.
He stated further that the belief of Lonamead in Nigeria as a preferred investment destination, was amply demonstrated by the management efforts in establishing in the country and urged them to embark on the second phase of their investment.
Earlier, the Managing Director (Africa) of Tura International Limited, Mr. Piyush Nair, stated that the group is targeting an investment portfolio of one billion pounds sterling by 2009, even as he said that the Aba Factory has received regulatory certification of both the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
Nair praised the Federal Government's progressive policies, especially the consolidation of the new investment climate, which has necessitated the current investment by the company apart from the fact that they have chosen Nigeria to be the headquarters of the company in Africa.
"We are excited by the progressive policies of the present democratic government. The Federal Government of Nigeria's accelerated pace of liberalized economic reforms for investment in the core-manufacturing sector which is not linked to oil has been positive. I must confess that this investment of LORNAMEAD is practically a dividend of democracy in Nigeria," he said.
The high point of the occasion was the unveiling of the Lornamead Group and Tura products by the Minister of Industry, Ambassador Fidelis Tapgun and assisted by the Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Professor John Ndanusa Akanya at the Abuja Sheraton Hotels and Towers.