Nigeria-Saudi Chamber of Commerce will deepen countries’ relations – Minister

 

CHIDIMMA UCHEGBU- Abuja

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said

the establishment of the Nigeria-Saudi Arabia Chamber of Commerce,

Industry, Mines and Agriculture will deepen the relations between the

two countries beyond diplomatic ties to commerce and industry.

 

The Minister made the remarks in Abuja on Thursday when he received

the President of the newly-established Chamber, Engr. Ibrahim Usman,

on a courtesy visit.

 

“Clearly from your presentation, it’s clear that the major objective

is to change the narrative and ensure that the relations between Saudi

Arabia and Nigeria should not be seen just from the narrow prism of

Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage, but from the prism of two very important

nations of the world creating a bridge through better cooperation for

the two countries and their citizens,” he said.

 

Alhaji Mohammed described the Chamber as a clearing house for

proposals from business people from the two countries in order to open

new vistas for trade opportunities.

 

He said the absence of such a Chamber has led to the decline in the

volume of trade and also bred trust deficit between business people

from the two countries.

 

“The absence of this vehicle has led to loss of businesses between the

two countries and it has also aggravated the trust deficit between

them,” he said.

 

The Minister congratulated Engr. Usman for his doggedness in making

the establishment of the Chamber a reality, after over 10 years of

strenuous efforts, saying he has proven himself as a man of vision and

deep conviction.

 

In his remarks, Engr. Usman said in spite of the historical

relationship between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, the volume of trade

between the two countries is about $5 million.

 

“And whereas many Saudi investors are looking out for profitable

investment windows in friendly countries like Nigeria, our businesses

have been unable to capitalize on such opportunities due to lack of an

organized, reliable, safe and very secure private sector platform like

a Chamber of Commerce,” he said.

 

He said a 60-member inter-ministerial delegation from Saudi Arabia

will be in Nigeria next week for the second session of the

Nigeria-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission, which will further create

opportunities for the chamber to set up trade missions.