The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, has called on the Japanese government to harness the economic opportunities available between Nigeria and Japan for mutual benefits.
Dada said relationship between the countries could be engendered through people to people engagements, cultural exchanges, defence and security cooperation, environmental protection, gender protection and other mutual areas of interest.
Speaking to business communities at the ongoing Nigeria-Japan Business Forum, in Tokyo, Japan, as a guest speaker, Dada maintained that the two nations contributed significantly to the continents of Asia and Africa, and indeed to the entire globe, hence he believed that the forum would significantly boost the existing bilateral relations between the countries, as well as substantially increase the current economic and trade volumes.
“In 2021, exports from Nigeria to Japan reached 760 million US dollars, while imports from Japan to Nigeria hit 287 million US dollars. For Nigeria, liquified natural gas remains the most significant commodity of export to Japan. Therefore, I look forward to our robust exchanges in the next few days to explore ways of diversifying our interests, with a particular focus on innovative technologies,” he asserted.
He stated that diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Japan had existed for over six decades and they had now become increasingly clear to all stakeholders that Japan had the potential of becoming Nigeria’s greatest strategic economic trading partner in the Asia-pacific region.
“We have cultivated a friendship that has enabled us to understand and appreciate our aspirations that is far greater than the current engagements between our institutions. I want to take this opportunity to implore us all to harness the economic opportunities available between us, through people to people engagements, cultural exchanges, defence and security cooperation, environmental protection, gender protection and other mutual areas of interest.
“With limited natural resources and only 20% of land suitable for cultivation, Nigeria remains an attractive market for Japan. Back home, extraction remains the most important sector of the Nigerian economy and we have been blessed with an abundance of tin, iron ore, coal, limestone , lead, zinc and of course crude oil. Also, Nigeria has an arable land area of 34million hectares; 6.5 million of which are for permanent crops and 28.6 million on meadows and pastures. With the globally acclaimed Japanese technology the wide expanse of land in Nigeria is able to yield greater benefits to the international community. Let’s deepen our cooperation in the agricultural sector.
“Despite the global financial challenges, Nigeria, the biggest economy in Africa and the world’s sixth largest oil producer, remains the number one investment destination in Africa,” he said.
With the rapid aging of Japan’s population which ostensibly will reduce the size of the workforce and tax revenue in Japan, while placing increasing demands on its health and welfare expenditur, the Minister called on the Japanese government to explore the huge population of Nigeria, adding “apart from our domestic market of over 200million people we are also the main gateway to a combined West Africa consumer market with a median age of 19 years and with 70% of the population below the age of 35 years.”
He informed the audience that the forum provided a veritable platform for developing new business opportunities.
He also informed the gathering that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had taken the very necessary decisions to create an enabling environment for potential investors.
“The focus has been in the following areas, namely diversification from oil to more inclusive sectors like agriculture, ICT and mining; tackling corruption, insecurity and climate change; social investment programmes; improvement of the power sector and enhancement of ports efficiency through technology-based cargo clearing processes, amongst others.”
He said there was a vibrant collaboration between the countries’ public institutions, including the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“These partnerships, including the projects undertaken in Nigeria by the government of Japan under the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) platform, has benefited and contributed in improving the livelihood of our citizens.
“So why are we here? In addition to forming business collaborations and alliances, the aim of a business forum, such as this, is to exchange ideas on utilizing innovative technology, to ease cross border payments and to create transparency in payment processes in order to achieve improved and seamless global trade transactions.
“In light of this, the theme of this forum, ‘Harnessing of Cross-Border Technological Advancement as a Catalyst for achieving Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria” – The case of Nigeria-Japan bilateral relationship, is apt and timely. The introduction of digital Technology would ultimately lead to greater trust between business partners.”
The Minister hoped that the forum would create the necessary exchanges that would enable the business houses of Nigeria and Japan to rise to the occasion of increasing the economic activities and trade volume between the two countries as well as the much desired people to people contact.
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