Delta building capacity for the future-Commissioner

Mr Chike Ogeah, Delta commissioner for information said on Sunday that the state was building capacity in five  key areas to sustain it in the future.

Ogeah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba that the capacity building was part of government's drive to move the state beyond oil.

He said the five key areas are Small and Medium scale enterprises, tourism, sports, Information and communication technology and agriculture.

Ogeah said countries like Brazil, China , South Africa , Malaysia and India built their economies  in these areas and had been doing well for the people.

'' What we are saying is that, those resources we are earning today , which we might not continue to earn, let us use it to build capacity in the other major areas that we can have comparative advantage.

'' And basically in Delta, we have found about five of those key areas most countries have used to make the quantum leap from under developed, to developing and developed countries in within twenty-thirty years.

'' We are talking about bricks countries, and I will give the names of those. Countries like India, like you know,  Brazil , Russia, South Africa China, this is what they have used to make that quantum leap.

'' The Malaysians came and took palm seedlings from here in the seventies, see what they have done, see how  they have diversified their economy.

'' But for us in Delta, the five critical areas are really Small and Medium  Scale Enterprises, (SME) which is a great catalyst for growth.

'' Most of those Asian tigers, that was what they used,''.

Ogeah said some Asian countries used the SME's  to build small businesses, created employment, used micro finance banks to create big multinational banks.

The commissioner said the state would use tourism to make Asaba the capital of Nollywood and home for entertainment.

''  We keep saying that our beyond oil is a journey , it is not a destination,'' he said.

He said the Asaba airport would have a green house zone, where agricultural product  would be processed and exported without problems.

(NAN)