Posted by By Umoru Henry, Vanguard (Lagos) on
THE Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), Mrs. Irene Chigbue disclosed at the weekend that plans have been concluded to open bids for the Port Harcourt Refinery this week
THE Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE), Mrs. Irene Chigbue disclosed at the weekend that plans have been concluded to open bids for the Port Harcourt Refinery this week, just as the Bureau had made overtures to the highly industrialized Republic of Korea to bring its wealth of experience to bear and invest in the refinery and the railway sub sectors of the Nigeria economy.
Speaking at a business forum and luncheon in honour of the visiting Korean trade delegation in Abuja on the theme "Investment Opportunities in Nigeria: the Privatization Option", Dr. Chigbue said that vibrant economic activities to be witnessed in the country soon will therefore make the railway system a lucrative sector for interested investors to take advantage, adding that the South Korea government should consider doing its investment through the privatization exercise.
The BPE boss who lured the visiting business operators to the nations' airports which the nation has put up for grab, stressed that the Bureau had prepared a blue print for the sale of the rail way, adding that the Eastern and Western rails were available for investors to commit their money into.
"The sheer size of Nigeria and the intensity of economic activities will convince you that investment in this sector could be a very lucrative business. We have a handful of paper mills and sugar companies run down by poor management for sale," she added. In his remarks, the Director General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Jide Mike who used the opportunity to intimate the delegation on those opportunities available in Nigeria especially in its natural resources, urged the South Korea to invest in petrochemical, steel, transport, furniture, building materials, packaging as well as electronics as major areas of challenges in the manufacturing sector. "Add value to what we have and provide jobs", he said.
In his paper titled "Nigerian Investment Climate and Opportunities", the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Engr. Mustafa Bello who noted that Public- Private Partnership was a sine qua non for achieving a sustainable economic growth as well as stimulate investment activities in the area of manufacturing through import substitution and export in several sectors, assured the visitors of conducive economic environment to invest in Nigeria. "This is just another step in the commission's growing commitment to investor focused service," he stressed.