World leaders pledge increased investment in Nigeria

The eighth World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference ended on Saturday night in Geneva, Switzerland, with enhanced trade and investment prospects for Nigeria.The United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Ronald Kirk, said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the meetings that he was impressed by the leadership style of the Chairman of the Ministerial Conference and Nigerias Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga. He added that his calm and thorough approach to tackling issues arising between the member countries had made the conference fruitful irrespective of the obvious bottlenecks.A statement by the Special Adviser on Corporate Communications to the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mrs. Yemi Kolapo, said Nigeria made history this year as the first African nation to chair the conference since the establishment of the WTO 16 years ago.Kirk, who was a former Mayor of Dallas, said the country would benefit greatly from the opportunity in terms of strong trade and investment relationships with other countries of the world as well as other benefits of the WTO, noting that it shows the leadership quality in Nigeria.The Indonesian Minister of Trade, Mr. Gita Wirjawan, said during a bilateral meeting with Aganga that the quality participation by Nigeria in the conference had enhanced the confidence of his country in the Nigerian economy.Wirjawan added that he would lead a trade delegation to the country in February 2012 with the aim of striking huge, mutually beneficial investment deals, noting that he was happy that a developing country chaired the conference for the first time and managed the MC8 very well.He said that the fact that an African country chaired a peaceful and fruitful WTO ministerial conference was enough to enhance the confidence of countries in Nigeria, noting that the two countries must work together to ensure an improvement in the trade volume between them.The South African Trade and Industry Minister, Dr. Rob Davies, also commended Nigerias leadership of the WTO ministerial conference, saying that President Goodluck Jonathan assembled the best brains in his cabinet.He said he was looking forward to good fruits from the deliberations at the WTO conference, saying that member countries had a lot to gain, going forward.
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