April 10, 2017
By Ijendu Iheaka
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state on Monday said that the state would work
hard to get American endorsement for its locally-made products which would serve as a key to
its entrance into the world market.
Ikpeazu disclosed this during the
visit of the National President of Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC)
Chief Olabitan Famutimi at his guest house in Aba.
He said that the same magic China
used to break into the world market would be good enough to launch Abia
products into the world market.
“It will be good for us. Not only in
terms of aggregate purchase or take-away from our pool but the mere endorsement
that America has come to say that what we do in Abia State is good for their
market is what we need to reach the world. And I hope to see this happen in our
time”, he said.
The governor said that Abia established
a Quality and Assurance Management Agency to collaborate with other standards
agencies in Nigeria like Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and National Agency for Food, Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC) and others globally to improve the quality of its goods.
He said the state was exporting over
1 million pairs of shoes, bags and other leather products to parts of Africa
weekly with about 1 million people working in the sector.
He said that the quantity of
products from the sector was huge stressing that Abia would leverage the
opportunities provided by the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) to
cope with handling the development.
Ikpeazu also hinted that the state
has plans to establish a Free Trade Zone to take care of its export needs.
“As I speak with you today, the Abia
state delegation to Singapore has left the shores of Nigeria to come back with
the final design of our Free Trade Zone which will occupy a 9000 hectre already
acquired, C of O delivered piece of land between Abia and Port Harcourt.
“The idea is to ensure that the economies
of Abia and Port Harcourt in the next ten years are united”, he said.
Earlier in his speech, the National
President, Nigeria-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Chief Olabitan Famutimi
said they were in Abia state to help the state promote their products.
Famutimi said that AGOA had signed
an MOU with the chamber to represent them in West Africa adding that they want
to give Abia all the business opportunities it could enjoy with America through NACC.
He said that the chamber was going
to set up an African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) desk in Abia state with a
desk officer assigned to it to run the desk.
Famutimi canvassed for Free trade zones or
AGOA parks in all states of Nigeria to improve processing export products in
Nigeria which would reduce the rate Nigerian exports are returned.
He said that his organization would
want the governor to sign an MOU with it to ensure continued relationship with
the chamber in the future saying that they would return on a later date to present their
charter to Abia chapter of NACC.
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