INSECURITY WILL NOT HAMPER TRADE FAIR - KADCCIMA
The Kaduna Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) has disclosed that the state of insecurity in the country would not prevent the chamber from going ahead with its planned annual trade fair.
Addressing the media in Lagos yesterday, the First Deputy President of KADCCIMA, Mr. Abdullahi Muhammadu Sani stated that despite the security challenges plaguing the country, exhibitors from Egypt, India, Pakistan and Maryland have signified their interest to participate at the 33rd edition of the trade fair.
The fair with the theme: 'Re-awakening of Nigerian Enterprises Towards Global Competitiveness,' would host over 600 participants from European, African and Asian countries at the fair scheduled to commence from February 24th to March 4, 2012.
The president assured exhibitors and members of the public participating in the fair that the chamber had put in place effective security measures to tackle an unforeseen circumstances, stating that the issue of insecurity remained a global challenge not peculiar to Nigeria alone. 'We are not postponing the trade fair. We have in the last few years been having the fair at the end of February. This year also, we will have it from the last week of February to the first week of March. An event like the Kaduna Trade Fair has become an important yearly event in the business calendar; changing it will indicate to the international community that all is not well in Nigeria.
'We do not think that the situation in Nigeria is that bad to scare investors away, because if we postpone the event, foreign media will further exaggerate it more than we thought, and it will not speak well of our country in the international community. If you listen to reports in the foreign media about Nigeria, you will think Nigeria is a difficult place to do business. In fact, Nigeria is not the only country having security challenges,' he said.
Sani maintained that the chamber has chosen the theme as a result of the importance of non oil exports in current efforts towards reviving the Nigerian real sector as a step towards the revival of the economy.
The fair according to Sani would focus more on promoting made-in-Nigeria goods, stressing that this remained the only way of sustaining the economy and placing it on a sound footing. 'We are planning to use this medium to encourage local manufacturers, investors and SME's to showcase their product to the world. The trade fair will provide a great opportunity for investors, exporters and businesses to showcase their goods and services.
'This will also serve as a means of promoting made-in-Nigeria goods, thereby allowing both local and foreign investors to cement working relationships which will help grow the nation's economy. 'We are expecting more of this especially from the federal and state ministries of Science and Technology, who have invented new machines which have been modified to suit local operations,' he said.