Industrialization: Manufacturers commend Obiano, seek closer cooperation

THE Anambra State government has opened bids for Expression of Interest from world-class developers for the proposed development of an auto-industrial layout on the 155 hectares of land it acquired at the Akwaihedi, Unubi and Uga axis of the state.

In a statement by Kingsley Ezekwelu, Special Assistant on Media, Governor Willie Obiano, while playing host to a delegation from the Anambra/Ebonyi/Enugu branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) at the Governor’s Lodge, Awka, revealed that the state government has also acquired lands in Idemili and Ekwusigo Council Areas. He said that the Akwaihedi Project, when completed, will serve as a model for the kind of industrial estates that his administration envisioned; adding that such will possess the necessary infrastructure for industries to thrive in the state.

Obiano said that in recognition of the key role the private sector plays in the realization of his industrialization agenda, his administration has sustained its efforts at supporting private investors to seek business opportunities in the state.

This, he said, that through the Anambra State Investment Protection and Promotion(ANSIPPA), it has instituted a workable structure which guarantees that investors and their host communities get maximum benefits for investments.

He maintained that his administration has banned the use of agents for revenue collection while illegal tax and levies collectors are being clamped down on to avoid multiple taxation and urged the manufacturers to key into the industrialization drive of his government and explore virgin areas of partnership with the State government.

Earlier, the Commissioner For Finance, Industry, Innovations and Development Finance Institutions, Ifeatu Onejeme, acknowledged that the meeting was in line with the administration’s efforts at institutionalizing gainful engagement with the organised private sector towards the development of the state.

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He revealed that as part of its initiative to encourage manufacturers in the state, the present administration is working to domesticate the Federal Industrial Policy to enable industrialists develop long-term plans with huge economic benefits and also directed the harmonisation of the Tax and Levies Schedule of the state and local governments to avoid multiple taxation.

On his part, the Commissioner for Lands, Okey Muoka, revealed that it is the policy of the state government under its investment thrust, to process land titles for investors with dispatch, and assured the group that government will readily avail them the necessary support they require to make them invest in the state.

The leader of the delegation and Chairman of the Branch, Chief Aloysius Okafor, had explained that the visit was to express their solidarity with the state government in its bid to transform the state, as well as to draw government’s attention to critical issues hampering their operation some of which included multiple taxation, epileptic power supply and poor infrastructure in existing industrial clusters and their non-involvement in industrial policy formulation processes.

The Vice Chairman of the Branch, Chief Chris Chidume, in his remarks, thanked Obiano for the result-oriented system his administration is running the affairs of the State and advocated constant interaction between them and the government in ensuring that the manufacturers who are critical stakeholders in job and wealth creation, are given the desired platform to operate maximally.