From Uche Usim, Abuja
Following mass rejection of goods exported to Europe and the United States, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, has expressed optimism that the issue would soon be a thing of the past as the government is addressing it through various mechanisms.
He said at the weekend in Abuja that government had begun deep engagements with international trade partners to address the factors leading to rejection of goods from Nigeria.
He stated that global business was quite competitive and sophisticated such that it required various approaches like engagement, standardisation and other parameters to succeed in it.
“One of the things about trade export in particular is that we live in a world where you have to be competitive and you have to give the world acceptable products.
“Everybody has a right to export without sort of meeting the baseline but it comes with a price, that is one point.
“The second point is that there is also a lot of gamesmanship that goes on, what they call non-tariff barriers, where they come up with barriers to trade; where they come up with rules.
“We have to be proactive in engagement. Trade is about engagement, which is why we need our trade experts to engage our markets. Markets are not impassable.
“They will point out what is wrong, but I believe that it is that engagement that leads to the successes. I think the thing to understand is that it is more of trade engagement, more of negotiation.
“It is not a matter of being passive and the government has some roles to play, as well as the quality assurance certification bodies too, to make sure that what we are exporting meets standards,” he said.
The minister disclosed that the government has employed Chidi Osakwe, a negotiator who worked at the World Trade Organisation for about 20 years.
“Before then, he spent about 15 years or more in foreign service. He is a trade expert and understands the technicalities and the language of trade.
“There are other people who have received similar training and exposure. Part of what we are doing now is to identify them and pull them together.
“We will also be undertaking training and equipping others with tools of negotiation,” he said.
Enelamah also disclosed that government was bent on growing the nation’s economy by ensuring that it Executive Orders on Ease of Doing Business and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan were implemented to the letter.
On the special economic zones, the minister said they were conceived in an important attempt to solve the problems that were hindering industrialisation.