Lagos reiterates resolve to improve economy, development through partnership

The Lagos State government, yesterday, reiterated its resolve to improve the state’s economy through investment partnership drive, especially as partnership forms the bedrock of development.

The state’s Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, stated this during the visit of Belgium Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Daniel Bertrand, to the Lagos Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget at Alausa, Lagos.

Egube said: “We are pleased to have you in Lagos. We believe that partnerships actually form the bedrock of development and this is one of the pillars of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s government.

“The governor believes that you must have several levels of engagement and partnerships to make things work. So, one of the things we strive to do is to ensure that those partnerships go beyond talk into real definitive actions and as a result of that, we welcome you with a lot of excitements.

In his speech, Bertrand expressed Belgium’s readiness to expand bilateral ties with the Lagos State government with the aim of tapping into several investment opportunities abound in the state.

He said the purpose of his visit was to familiarise with Lagos and the opportunities, which will be presented to a delegation of Belgian business entrepreneurs that are interested in doing business in the state despite the already active Belgian business community in Nigeria.

He noted that a courtesy visit to the governor would also be anticipated, as the Belgian delegation would be coming to Abuja and Lagos in the next few months to explore investment opportunities as they are very interested in Nigerian market.

He said: “One of the priorities of my term is to strengthen our bilateral ties, especially in the economic and commercial fields. There is a huge potential and I think the potential is huge and we can be far more productive than we are and that is why we are going to welcome in the next few months a delegation of business entrepreneurs coming to Nigeria to see what they can do here as they are very interested in the Nigerian market and they will visit Abuja and Lagos.

“So, I am here just to learn a little bit about Lagos and the opportunities and also to see if it is the custom to be welcomed by the governor because it is a very important visit on our part and may be a courtesy visit to the governor will be needed as well.”