The Nigerian Embassy in Manila has kicked off the two-day Nigeria-Philippines Business Forum which aims to higher and facilitate trade, investment and business opportunities in the two countries.
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Republic of the Philippines Folakemi I. Akinleye said “The Forum is designed as part of the year-long activities to commemorate the over 60 years of diplomatic relations with the Republic of the Philippines.”
“The forum aims to advance diplomatic, economic, and social collaboration between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of the Philippines,” she added.
Amb. Akinleye noted that, “In view of many years of diplomatic relations between our two dear nations, one would expect that there should already exist very strong economic ties between us. Unfortunately, this is not the case in spite of the geographical, cultural, agricultural and aquatic similarities that bind us.”
“To this end, my tenure as Ambassador is determined to rekindle the desire and will to collaborate economically between government to government, business to business, as well as government to business in Nigeria and Philippines, while serving as the liaison,” she added.
It was pointed out that, Nigeria remains a very strategic partner for the Philippines in Africa as it is blessed with human, agricultural, natural, ecological, and aquatic resources.
“There abound numerous sectors where our countries can do business together and, for this cause, the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has set up policies to facilitate the ease of doing business in Nigeria,” Amb. Akinleye said.
The forum also provides the opportunity for visiting Nigerian entrepreneurs to access the Philippine market and create effective partnership and collaboration as well as gain knowledge on the thoughts, challenges, and aspirations of Philippine business regarding the Nigerian market.
The forum also highlighted incentives available in both countries, including funding opportunities and risk managements for the purpose of increasing foreign direct investments into Nigeria.
For its part, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that, “While there are exchanges on economic trends and market leads, more efforts are needed to develop the economic relations between the two regions.”
“The signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the National Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Public Health is an important first step to attaining that objective,” it added.
The PCCI said “The historical MOU signing seeks not only to develop profitable and sustainable partnerships in specific sectors with Nigeria, but also to open more doors of opportunities with your neighboring African nations to ensure productive implementation of the memorandum of understanding both chambers will establish counterpart business councils that was spearheaded initiatives that help us enrich our market exposure and business contracts.”