Canadian investors have been enjoined to leverage the favourable investment opportunities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to invest in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development, transportation, healthcare, waste management and the hospitality industry.
Minister of State for FCT, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, made this call when she led a delegation of FCT to the just concluded inaugural Canada-Nigeria Investment Expo with the theme: “Creating Enduring Partnership” held at the Ontario Investment Trading Centre, Canada.
The Minister maintained that the participation of the FCT Administration in the investment summit has opened up more opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Federal Capital Territory.
In a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja, on Monday by her Special Adviser on Media, Austine Elemue, Aliyu expressed satisfaction that various business groups in Canada have indicated interest to come and invest in Abuja, stressing that the Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL) and Abuja Infrastructure Investment Centre (AIIC) would be working with the Ease of Doing Business unit to facilitate this process for speedy implementation.
According to her; “The Expo provided business investors from FCT and other parts of Nigeria with the opportunity to connect with Economic Development Organizations and Global Business leaders from across Canada to facilitate Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Public Private Partnership in Nigeria”.
Also, the Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, His Excellency, Adeyinka Asekun, in his remarks at the summit outlined the various efforts made by the Embassy that have yielded results.
He said one of such moves was the Canadian Governor General High powered visit to Nigeria in 2017 and the visit of the Nigeria Business community to Canada in 2018.
The Ambassador also informed the gathering of efforts being made to conclude the Bilateral Trade Agreement between Nigeria and Canada to increase the volume of trade which was currently below what was expected, given the number of Nigerians in Canada and the diverse opportunities.
At the sideline of the Expo, the minister held meetings with the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, and other ministers in charge of Economic Development, Job creation, Sports, Tourism, and Agriculture amongst others.
The high point of the event was presentations from the Mandate Secretaries of Economic Planning and Revenue Generation (EPRG), Public Private Partnership (PPP), and Agriculture and Social Development where they exposed delegates to the various investment opportunities in Abuja.