Calabar – The Federal Government has appealed to the business community to explore the various business opportunities that abound in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The call was made on Thursday in Calabar by Amb. Bulus Lolo, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a sensitisation workshop on ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).
According to Lolo, business stakeholders in Nigeria can benefit immensely if they explore the benefit of promoting intra-community goods offered by ETLS within the ECOWAS sub-region.
Represented at the occasion by Amb. Okon Etuknwa, Lolo said that ETLS’s benefits included the removal of import duties, prohibition and restrictions on goods from any ECOWAS member state.
He said such opportunities would consequently make goods cheaper and more competitive than goods outside the community, create jobs, boost local production and promote regional integration.
The permanent secretary said “the overall intended outcome will be to boost local industrial development, create wealth and job opportunities and foster regional integration.’’
He said the scheme would also facilitate private sector development in Nigeria, an important player in ETLS’s implementation, by virtue of its capacity and resources within ECOWAS.
He added that relative low awareness among Nigeria’s business community and negative consequences associated with smuggling of goods made outside ECOWAS were some of the challenges of ETLS implementation in Nigeria.
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The Nigerian business and investment community required regular awareness campaign on ETLS because many Nigerian products were not yet enjoying opportunities inherent in the scheme.
Lolo said that goods covered in ETLS included unprocessed goods, traditional handicrafts and industrial products.
He said the sensitisation workshop would offer measures that would curtail difficulties in enlisting Nigerian products into the scheme.
In his address, Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River, said that the implementation of the scheme would no doubt be enhanced by the construction of Trans-African Highway which would traverse the state to the Republic of Cameroun.
The governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Tina Agbo, said his administration had initiated projects that would complement Federal Government’s desire to encourage industrialisation and encourage local production. (NAN)