Your Excellencies, Executive Governors, Ministers from the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

Ministers and Mayors of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands, Chief Executive Officers of distinguished companies from Nigeria and the Netherlands, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

             It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you on behalf of the His Excellency, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the 2010 Nigeria/Netherlands Business Forum for the strengthening of the Nigeria Netherlands Relations for sustainable development.

             I congratulate my fellow countrymen and women on the occasion of Nigeria’s 50^thindependence anniversary. In the last 50 years Nigeria has recorded a lot of achievements, one of which is the resilience of the country to remain independent and indivisible sovereign country with vast potentials and capacity for responsible behavior within and outside the country.  Of course we had our own fair share of challenges which we must overcome.

             I salute our host, the Netherlands for supporting our development efforts in various aspects and sectors especially agriculture, oil and gas. I seize this opportunity to encourage the Netherlands to do more in those sectors as well as explore bilaterally and multilaterally areas of further cooperation with Nigeria.

             Your Excellencies this is the second edition of the yearly Nigeria/Netherlands Business and Investment Forum which was initiated in 2009. As you will recall the maiden edition of the Forum was held at the Kurhuis in The Hague. It attracted wide participation from Nigeria and the Netherlands. One of the outcomes of the 2009 Forum was the establishment of joint ventures in ten states of Nigeria. Our intention this year is to continue to build upon the success recorded last year.

             We are aware that on the economic front, the last two years have not been particularly prosperous for most countries including Nigeria. According to the 2010 World Investment Report, Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in year 2009 dropped to $6bn as against $20bn in 2008. However, the global FDI flows witnessed a modest recovery in the first half of 2010. 

             I understand that though the year 2009 was marked by slow recovery from a global economic recession, The Netherlands posted strong FDI results for the year.  It has been reported that The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) supported the attraction of 155 foreign investment projects, representing 3,887 jobs and investment of $4.27 billion. 

             Since my appointment as Ambassador to the Royal kingdom of the Netherlands, in 2008, we have worked keenly and assiduously to bring together businessmen and women from the two countries to explore and attract business and investment opportunities.  I am happy to report, in this regard, that our effort has been crowned with successes.

             In 2008, a successful Trade Mission from the Netherlands to Nigeria was organised during which joint venture agreements were signed and are currently operational in about ten states in Nigeria.  The 2009 Forum was also organized. It further consolidated the gains of the 2008 trade mission.

             Furthermore, in February 2010, the Embassy of Nigeria and the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC), the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, Food Quality organized a successful Agricultural Trade Mission to Nigeria from 21st– 27th February 2010. During that mission an MOU was signed to pave the way for the blossoming of trade between Nigeria and the Netherlands especially in food processing, storage, distribution and marketing as well as other agribusinesses of the agricultural sector of Nigeria.

             As a result of the various trade missions to and from Nigeria, the relations between Nigeria and Netherlands have continued to blossom and wax stronger. In the last two weeks, plans are underway to further expand the scope of the relations between the two countries with the visit of the Honourable Minister of State for Defense to the DAMEN Shipyard in the outskirt of Rotterdam. Thus, the annual Business and investment Forum has been a catalyst for greater and more vibrant relations between the two countries.

             The purpose and objective of the Forum is to create partnership and promote investment for sustainable development between Nigeria and the Netherlands and provide opportunity and platform for public and private partnership to interact and strike business deals and acquaintances. The focus of this year’s Forum is on Agriculture, Oil and Gas, Power and Transport.

             I am particularly appreciative of the of role our partners, the government of the Netherlands, private companies and individuals for the role played by them towards   attracting investment to Nigeria and joint venture between Nigeria and the Netherlands which I believe will assist Nigeria in realizing the objective of placing the Nigerian Economy in to the league of 20largest economies of the world by 2020.

             To realize the target of placing Nigeria among the 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020, Nigerians and their partners in development would have to work assiduously to increase international investment and make the country a world investment destination. It has been estimated that Nigeria will require 13 Trillion naira or $200billion to achieve the objective.

             The organization of the various trade missions to and from Nigeria, the 2009 Business Forum and now the 2010 Business and Investment Forum, are all part of our  modest and noble effort, in collaboration with various stakeholders in the Netherlands, to assist our country achieve the objective of 20:2020.

 Your Excellencies will realise that the focus of the 2010 Nigeria/ Netherlands Business and Investment Forum is on Agriculture, Oil and Gas, Power and Transport. These sectors were carefully selected so as to enable sectorial mobilization and deployment of resources to four sectors, because we believe they hold the key that will unlock the vast potentials of Nigeria, to guarantee the transformation of the Nigerian economy for the benefit of Nigeria and the world at large.

             I wish to assure businessmen and women in the Netherlands of the unqualified support of the Nigerian government to our effort towards attracting business and investment to Nigeria and the creation of favourable and conducive atmosphere for the blossoming of further economic activities between Nigeria and the Netherlands.

             I seize this opportunity to extend my profound appreciation to all participants in the Forum and all those who worked tirelessly in the last one year to make this Forum a reality. I extend special appreciation to the Netherlands Africa Business Council (NABC) and the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce for being there for us when the convening of the Forum was almost aborted. The collective support of the two organisations made our presence here possible. I appreciate the facilities provided by our sponsors Shell, Heineken, Medialineand other numerous facilitators. I also appreciate the role played by the Nigeria Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in making the arrival of Nigerian participants to the Netherlands. The success of this Forum will surely put the Chamber on the map of proactive Chambers of Commerce in Nigeria. I also appreciate the role of the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands in the promotion of our bilateral relations through the Business and Investment Forum.

             It is my honour and privilege to put on record that, without your patience, hard work and commitment to the promotion of excellent bilateral relations between Nigeria and Netherlands, this Forum would not have been possible.  I assure you that our effort in this regard shall never be in vain. And that our pioneering effort for a brighter future in the relations between Nigeria and the Netherlands shall be written in gold.

             Thank you for your attention and I wish you fruitful interaction.