Minister for Commerce and Industry, Chief Charles Ugwu, has restated Federal Government’s commitment to end importation of petroleum products.
Refineries in the country have fallen into bad times and even at peak productions, cannot meet the rising local demand.
Consequently, there has been recourse to importation with its huge drain on scarce foreign exchange. But Ugwu said yesterday in Guangzhou, China that the Federal Government is determined more than ever before, to create an enabling environment that will stimulate local production with a view to meeting the demand of consumers and maximizing other by-products derivable from crude oil.
He made the pledge while on a factory tour of the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation Guangzhou Company (SINOPEC) and China Petrochemical Assets Management Corporation also in Guangzhou, as part of activities of the second session of the on-going 5th Sino-Nigeria Business and Investment Forum (NBCIF).
SINOPEC, a leading petro-chemical company in China is one of the new entrants into the Nigerian oil industry.
Among those on the delegation were the Executive Secretary of NIPC, Engineer Mustafa Bello, Managing Director, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Mr Sina Agboluaje and representatives of First Bank and UBA.
He expressed regrets that Nigeria, with all her endowments in crude oil, has over the years concentrated only in exporting the commodity, while at the same time expending resources on “importing expensive refined products.”
He said the country has by the same token, failed to harness the enormous gas resources, which had been flared with its attendant environmental hazards. He assured that the Yar’Adua administration is poised not only to reverse the trend, but to ensure that opportunities attendant in refining crude oil products locally were maximized.
Ugwu restated the Federal Government’s desire to strengthen bilateral relations with China. “We have come to China to forge a partnership that will tap into our long standing relationship and similar history to develop not only our petro-chemical industries, but also others (industries) to the mutual benefits of both countries (Nigeria and China) and peoples”, he said.
Ugwu said that it is a deliberate policy of this administration to woo countries in the South East Asia Axis with similar developmental history as Nigeria.He said that the envisaged partnership the government is seeking with China and others will cut across refineries, both in strengthening the capacities of the existing ones, and establishing green field projects, as well as harnessing petrochemical by-products such as ethylene, plastics and polymer, natural gas and other related products.Drawing from the experience of SINOPEC, a company that generates its own independent power to the tune of 40 megawatts, Ugwu expressed desire that such a success story can be replicated in the Nigerian economy.Responding, the General Manager of SINOPEC, Mr. Chen Tonghai expressed his delight at the visit of the Nigerian government officials and businessmen under the auspices of the Nigeria-China Business and Investment Forum.Tonghai stated his company’s preparedness to partner with Nigeria, which he said shares similar developmental experiences with the Asian country.”SINOPEC has had a tortuous journey of growth starting off in the 1970s with an installed capacity of 2.5 million metric tones and improving to a current installed capacity of 13 million metric tones,” he said.He attributed the success of the company to the systematic development of the local content and manpower, which he said had made it less dependent on foreign input and stabilized the current capacity at 13 million metric tones.At the Guangzhou Development District, Ugwu told the Deputy General Manager, Mr. Chen Jie that the Nigerian delegation had come to learn from the Chinese run away success.Jie responding expressed delight at the visit pointing out that Nigeria stood to gain from some of the key policy initiatives that had seen Guangzhou become the top performing of the 54 economic zones in China since last year.He assured that from next year, the Guangzhou economic district will place both local and foreign firms at par, as far as tax adjustments is concerned, reversing a tax relief scheme that has been in place for 23 years.He said that Guangzhou is proud to be the home of 98 Fortune 500 companies operating in China with 48 international airlines making the city the hub of their South East Asian and Pacific operations.According to him, Guangzhou’s success was anchored on a vibrant educational industry that placed premium on sound technical training complemented by fluency in English language of young graduates.The delegation also visited Guangdong Development Bank and GF Securities Company all in Guangzhou city of Guangdong province.
Expressing the displeasure of the panel over incessant adjournments due either to witnesses absence or disobedience to tribunal�s order or inability to produce vital documents said they had a duty to perform in ensuring justice and that it was improper if the three days assigned for continuation of the trial be wasted.