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Steve Agbota
The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has said the Federal Government would ensure the maritime sector gets into the mainstream of economic strategy as it will engender economic growth and prosperity in the country.
The Minister, who diclosed this in his keynote address at the opening of a two-day Regional Workshop on UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework: A process to mainstream the maritime sector organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in conjunction with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Lagos, said that the Maritime Transport Plan and Strategy when fully completed will also provide a robust enabling framework for achieving Nigerian maritime objective and foster Public, Private sector collaboration and inter-regional cooperation.
He added: “This workshop is an essential step in a continuing shift in strategic thinking about the sustainable development of our nations and will no doubt provide an opportunity for stakeholders here present to develop the much needed cooperation framework in addressing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).”
The Minister who was represented by the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, stated that as the African Continent forges ahead with phase II negotiations for the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), the maritime sector remains critical to seamless trade and effective economic integration between African nations.
Said he: “Our approach, therefore, towards the realisation of the SDG is contingent on our joint effort and ability to put in place the much-needed cooperation framework in collaboration with critical stakeholders using the maritime sector as a veritable tool to promote agricultural development, food security, industrialisatio n and economic transformation of our nations, the region and the entire continent”.
