By Miriam Humbe, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, (FMITI) has said that it was developing a strategic plan that would serve as a Roadmap to achieving the objectives of Increasing foreign investment and International trade in Nigeria.
The roadmap was meant to facilitate the implementation of the country’s National Development Plan.
Director Press in the FMITI, Lawrence Thomas revealed this in a statement signed on Thursday.
The statement said that the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Evelyn Ngige said this on Thursday at a special retreat on the all important Ministry’s Strategic Plan.
Ngige said the Strategic plan would serve as a roadmap to achieve the objectives of government as streamlined in the National Development Plan.
She also said that the Ministry’s strategic plan would serve as a roadmap to ensure the collective objectives of the Ministry and its Parastatals were geared towards achieving the objectives of the government as streamlined in the National Development Plan.
The objective of the Retreat was to create a conducive platform for the top management of the Ministry and its Parastatals to discuss, brainstorm and provide input into the draft Strategic Plan of the Ministry for five years, from 2023 to 2027; and come up with strategies for achieving the set targets.
The Permanent Secretary said: “As a Ministry, we have a crucial role to play in the economic development of our Country, through the Industry, Trade and Investment sector and we must ensure that our plans align with the current National Development Plan”.
She said the Ministry’s strategic plan would also promote inter-Agency-Department collaboration and synergies through joint programmes and activities that would foster efficiency in achieving sectoral mandates.
Ngige said that the National Development Plan (NDP 2021 – 2025) was the highest priority of the Federal Government which sought to unlock all constraints to ensure that inclusive and sustainable economic growth was enhanced to generate employment and reduce poverty as the the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSIP 2021-2025) as well as to reposition the Nigeria Federal Civil Service as an effective machinery of government for improved service delivery.
She said: “The role of the Government will go beyond the normal provision of the enabling environment but also to include the qualitative participation of vital sectors of the economy that will open opportunities for the private sector to be a major engine of growth”.
She maintained that the strategic plan would also among other things, address several subsisting development challenges in the Country which included low and fragile economic growth, insecurity, weak institutions, insufficient public service delivery, notable infrastructure deficits, climate change and weak social indicators.
It would also seek to invest massively in infrastructure, ensure macroeconomic stability, enhance the investment environment, improve on social indicators and living conditions.
She further said that the Strategic plan was designed to guide stakeholders in achieving the mandate of promoting economic growth and development in Nigeria through industrialization, trade, and investment, which is aimed at creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, attract foreign investments, and develop the manufacturing and service sectors.
The Director Policy Planning Research and Statistics Department in the Ministry, Alhaji Babagana Alkali expressed optimism that the retreat which had in attendance Directors and Heads of Agencies of the Ministry would have a good understanding of the Strategic Plan and their respective roles.
He said this was in order to key into the plan in line with the mandate of the Industry, Trade and Investment Sector as stipulated in the National Development Plan (NDP)-(2021-2025) and the Federal Civil Service Strategy Implementation Plan (FCSIP 2021-2025).
The Director said that revalidation retreats would hold in the Southern and Northern zones for inputs from stakeholders before the final adoption of the Strategic Plan document.
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