Nigeria Committed to Free Trade, Says Buhari
WTO boss: SMEs to benefit more from trade facilitation agreements
Tobi Soniyi
James Emejo President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria remains fully committed to free international trade, despite its present economic circumstances.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said Buhari spoke at an audience in the Presidential Villa with the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ambassador Roberto Azevedo.
The president assured him that Nigeria would remain part of the world market in spite of the dwindling price of oil.
“I am glad that you are aware of the position we’ve found ourselves, the state of our economy, our consumption pattern, and many others. Despite it all, we remain committed to the ideals of free international trade championed by the WTO,” the president said.
The WTO boss expressed delight that Nigeria continued to work with multilateral organisations, adding that the trade group would soon start conversations on important issues for the country, including development of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), which he described as biggest employers of labour in developing countries.
“We want to bring the private sector close, so that we can understand the main challenges.
“Nigeria has a big part to play, though the times are difficult. Prices of oil are unprecedentedly low, emerging economies are slowing down, and commodity prices are shrinking. But majority of WTO members know that there is no gain in blocking goods,” he said.
Meanwhile, Azevedo, yesterday said the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country stands to derive greater benefits from the implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) which was set out at the Nairobi Convention but which Nigeria is yet to ratify.
His assurance followed concerns raised by the President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Udemba, which bothered on the proliferation of trade treaties which were never implemented as well as agreements considered as inimical to the real sector development.
Specifically, he cited the case of the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) believed to be in favour the of the European Union since Nigeria is highly an import dependent country.
But allaying the fears of the real sector players during a meeting with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in Abuja, the WTO boss said the TFAs would primarily help reduce the cost of doing business and make local SMEs competitive.
He noted that while big companies could afford to cope with the previous trade agreements because of the enormity of legal and financial resources at their disposal, small businesses are often subdued,hence the Nairobi treaty, to give advantage to the SMEs.
He advised the country never to boycott international trade negotiations as this could be costly-given that it would be made to comply with whatever agreements reached.
Rather, he said the country must resort to negotiations to resolve whatever concerns.
Azevedo said Nigeria must also learn to turn down whatever trade agreement that it finds unfavourable and accept those with benefits, stressing that global trade deals are all about negotiations.
He further drew attention to the emergence of electronic commerce which according to him, would also be negotiated going forward and urged the country not to be left out at the negotiating table.
He also said there are plans to bring the private sector and SMEs closer to the WTO as they would be invited to be part of the conversation at world meetings in Geneva, so as to better understand their challenges.
He said the country must sign the Nairobi agreements as a first step to gain the WTO support.
He also said diversification was a clear priority for the country, stressing that lowering the cost of doing business was key to attracting investments.
Meanwhile, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah said the country understood the implications of the multilateral trading system adding that it would be keen to deriving benefits from the global system.
He said the way forward was to engage the WTO rather than be isolated.
The minister said the federal government was currently working on a blueprint that would improve the investment climate and significantly boost its profile on the ease of doing business.
He added that subsequent improvements in trade flows among other reforms would be measurable.
He said government would further strengthen its relationship with the private sector.