The Lagos State Government has said it is determined to achieve its dream of becoming Africa’s model mega city by 2015.
It added that more private sector investments were being attracted to the state internationally and locally to create jobs and increase productivity.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Jamiu Dosunmu, in a statement on Tuesday, said the state Governor, Babatunde Fashola, made the statement during the celebration of the Lagos State Day at the just concluded International Trade Fair.
The governor observed that the mega city status of the state placed on it the responsibility of developing strategies that would help to harness public and private investments in order to have a dynamic economy.
Fashola, who described the theme of the fair ─ Promoting the Nigerian Economy as a Preferred Investment Destination ─ as apt, added that more investment influx into the state would reduce unemployment.
The governor, who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr. Wale Raji, said, “Although the state government has developmental business plans in place, massive business investment is still key to keeping the leading role of the state as the economic hub of the country and Africa.
“It is the desire of the state government to continue to make life meaningful for investors and formulate policies that will make business thrives.”
The Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Olusola Oworu, said the annual event was an avenue for both small and big business owners to showcase their products to both the local and international community.
She said the fair helped promote a healthy and productive networking which had in turn stimulated the demand for products and services and ultimately facilitated the enhancement of their productivity.
The President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alhaji Remi Bello, commended the efforts of the government in making the deadly Ebola Virus a history in the state.
