Ebonyi State Govt, Devt.Partners Agencies brainstorm, chart New Course on reviving SMES in the State

From. Clement Nnachi (abakaliki)

Ebonyi State Government in collaboration with Development Partners and Agencies on Tuesday brainstormed on modalities geared towards reviving Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the State .

The Collaborating Development Partners and Agencies included Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Access Bank, Raw Material, Research and Development Council and Feed the Nation among others.

Addressing the participants, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Business Development Dr Stephen Odoh, said that essence of the meeting was for the parties to brainstorm and find solutions on moving Small and Medium Enterprises forward.

According to him,” the State Government is committed in reviving moribund Industries inaddition to industrializing the State.

The Commissioner reiterated that Small and Medium Enterprises were vital for the diversification of both the economic base of the State and Federal Government.

“We hope that participants in this meeting will develop a template that will form the guiding principles for the revival of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES)”

In a remark the State Promotion Advisor Nigeria Export Promotion Council Mr Emmanuel Unanan, said that Operators of Small and Medium Enterprises can avail themselves the opportunity of utilising the benefit of Export Development Funds.

He advised Government of the South-East States to utilise opportunities and benefit from Export Expansion Fund inorder to leverage on the numerous interventions of the Federal Government.

“Markets are abound, but satisfying the market is important, all hands must be on deck to promote Export, Ebonyi people must be involved in export”

Contributing the State Manager Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr Asiegbu Chinedu, called on wealthy individuals, Pharmaceutical and Electrical Firms to come to Ebonyi State and set up industries .

Other Speakers including the Ebonyi State Coordinator Raw Material Research and Development Council Mr Ogaraku Toniaustin,  reiterated the need to have statistics of moribund Industries inorder  to facilitate it’s revitslization.

“The State offices do not have the full  mandate in policy decisions, we need to arrange for a visit to the Director General of RMAFC in Abuja”

The meeting in a unanimous resolution appealed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to be transparent in taxing Small and Medium Enterprises.

“The whole essence of this gathering is to proffer measures to industrialise the State in line with global best practices.