President Goodluck Jonathan
on Thursday in Abuja reassured foreign investors and Nigerians that the
economy would remain stable in spite of the slide in global oil prices.
Jonathan gave the assurance when he
received a delegation of General Electric led by its Vice Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer, John Rice, at the Presidential Villa.
He assured his guests that the Federal
Government would do everything possible to stabilise the economy, and
urged the company to maintain its confidence in the country.
“We promise our people that even with
the drop in oil prices, the economy will be stable. We have good
professionals with global outreach.
“I urge you to maintain the confidence
you have in this country before the oil price drop and even expect
better management from us.
“Sometimes, it is when you are challenged that you do better than when everything looks good, sometimes you overlook things.
“But now that we have seen some signs
everybody is looking at the book and looking at the various options
accurately and properly.
“So, I reassure you and other investors
in this country, and indeed, Nigerians that the government will do
everything to stabilise the economy.
“The drop in the prices of oil will not create so much distortion in our own economy,’’ he said.
The president thanked General Electric
for its commitment to increase its investment in the country with the
attendant benefits of job creation for thousands of youths and overall
economic development.
He said that the focus of his
administration had been job creation and economic expansion, which he
described, as one of the greatest problems facing governments around the
world.
Jonathan said he was quite pleased with
the company’s plans to set up a facility in Calabar that would
manufacture components for the oil and gas sectors.
“We are quite impressed by your investment in the oil and gas sector.
“Though Nigeria has been in the oil
business since the 60s, before this time, you hardly see local
manufacture of its facilities, we export the jobs.
“Yes, we are doing big business in oil, it does not translate into job creation.
“But with companies like General
Electric and others that are exploiting the Nigerian Local Content Act,
jobs are being created for young Nigerians,’’ he said.
Earlier, Rice said that the purpose of
the visit was to inform the president that General Electric had selected
Calabar for the establishment of its one billion dollar component
manufacturing plant.
He said that the plant would produce
sophisticated equipment for General Electric’s oil and gas business in
the country with the multiplier effect of creating thousands of more
jobs for Nigerians.
He said that the company had started the
process with land preparation at the project site, training of local
manpower to be engaged in the facility, among others.
He said: “We will be doing training and
leadership development. We have 45 Nigerians that are being trained; we
have sent them to the United Kingdom and Brazil.
“And we will be bringing them back to work in this facility when it is up and running.
“We have started the process with our
suppliers to qualify them and to certify their capabilities. So, we are
not holding back, we are moving forward,’’ Rice said.
He said on completion, the facility would increase the number of the company’s workforce from the current 600 to 1,300.
Rice assured the president that the
fluctuation in global oil prices would not affect the commitment of
General Electric to the country because of the encouragement coming from
the government.
He said the company had achieved so much
in the country due to the backing of the Ministers of Petroleum
Resources, Power, Health and Finance.
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