Date Published: 09/08/11
Jonathan reiterates plans to revamp manufacturing sector
The Federal Government on Thursday reiterated
its plans to address the problems hindering the growth of the manufacturing
sector.
President Goodluck Jonathan gave the assurances at the 39th
Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in
Lagos.
The theme of the meeting was: Transforming the manufacturing
sector as an agent of economic growth.
Jonathan said that with the right
conditions, coupled with our vast resources and power, the sector could provide
the impetus needed to uplift the economy.
The President, who was
represented by Chief Samuel Ortom, Minister of State for Trade and Investment,
said that the country's GDP was currently ranked 44th in the world ahead of
South Africa and Egypt.
Jonathan said that the manufacturing sector was
being hindered by a number of factors which included power supply and lack of
adequate infrastructure.
"We are vigorously pursuing the implementation
of our road map on power sector reforms.
"With the ongoing interventions,
I am confident that we shall shortly begin to see improvement in this
respect.“Transformation of the manufacturing sector cannot be complete without the
achievement of energy efficiency in our industries.
"We must, therefore,
begin to upgrade our production technologies to save energy and produce quality
goods at very competitive prices in tune with modern global practices," Jonathan
said.
He said that the government would continue with the privatisation
of key areas of the economy.
"Our economy requires massive
infrastructural development to support and sustain rapid economic
development.
"This is a Herculean task which government cannot do alone," the President said.
He urged the private sector to participate in the
funding of capital intensive infrastructure projects across the
country.
Jonathan said government had also initiated several measures
aimed at fast-tracking the realisation of accelerated development of the
manufacturing sector.
He listed the measures to include the
recapitalisation of the Bank of Industry (BOI) and other specialised financial
institutions to enable them perform their statutory roles in the economy
(NAN)
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