The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the Nigeria International Partnership Forum (NIPF) recently held in Paris will be a regular feature.
The Minister stated this in Paris while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the benefits of the forum designed to showcase Nigeria’s investment opportunities to the global community
NAN reports that the NIPF was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, political and business leaders from Nigeria and France.
“The forum has been a huge success in terms of showcasing the huge investment opportunities that abound in Nigeria
“The President sets the tone by telling the forum that Nigeria is open for businesses and highlighted the measures that have been taken by his Administration to ensure the ease of doing business in the country,” he said.
Mohammed recalled that in the four plenary sessions of the forum, Nigeria’s political and business leaders joined host of heads of multinational agencies and others to market Nigeria to the world
“They spoke on the opportunities available in the various sectors including oil and gas, banking, agriculture, the creative industry, telecommunications, digital space and transportation.
“The Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. explained the opportunities that have been created by the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“This is very important considering the misinformation that is pervasive about the Act.
“As a matter of fact, we are working towards a town hall meeting as soon as we arrived in Nigeria to further elucidate on the new Act,” he said.
The minister noted that his presentation at the forum on the opportunities available in the creative industry was an eye opener for the people to know the importance of the sector
He said judging from the questions and interactions after the presentation, it was clear that “the sector is bigger and offered more opportunities than many believed”.
“I know that it will take weeks or months for us to get the real benefits of the forum as investments do not happen or mature overnight.
“However, going by the impressive attendance at the forum especially by the French and Nigeria business communities, and the arrays of investment opportunities available, it will yield positive results in a very short time,” Mohammed said.
The minister, however noted that for the process to meet its target, both the public and private sectors must create for consistency, coherence, coordination and partnership,
He thanked the French government and business community, Nigeria business and political leaders and others who attended the forum. (NAN)
