CIIN President Urges FG to Prioritise Service Sector Devt
Stories by Ebere Nwoji
The federal government has been advised to pay more attention to the development of the service sub-sector of the economy in its on going effort to grow the economy. The President and Chairman in council of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Mrs. Funmi Babington Ashaye, who stated this at the recent International Exchange Programme organised by the institute in Hong Kong, said this is capable of sustaining the economy even without other natural resources.
She said that Nigerian delegates at the programme discovered that Hong Kong paid attention to its services sector and so earns its major contribution to GDP from it.
Babinhgton- Ashaye, who was the leader of Nigerian delegation to the conference said the choice of Hong Kong for the exchange programme was informed by a number of factors.
“Hong Kong is one of the greatest and biggest financial and trade hubs in Asia. It’s accomplishments in all spheres of human endeavour as islands clearly belie its small size. As one of the world’s leading knowledge centres, the achievements of Hong Kong in global commerce and international trade is at variance not only with its size but also provide a framework for learning and development.”
She said with the most ef- ficient and busiest maritime container port in the world, it is on record that Hong Kong dispatches one container every 4 minutes to other parts of the globe. “In 2017, its per capita income reached $46,228.13 while its 2018, ranking on the global Ease of Doing Business is 5th”.
She added: “Besides these performance statistics, it was estimated that services, which include insurance and reinsurance services, contributed 91 percent of its GDP in 2016.The implication of the dominance of the service sector cannot be lost on us: nations can develop without natural resources.”
She said the prosperity of the Hong Kong island was based on knowledge, its human capital, adding, “as such, there is a lot to learn from players in the country’s environment so that Nigeria, can positively impact its various business organisations”.
Advising Nigerian business operators at the forum, Babington- Asshaye stated: “As we strategically plan to grow our businesses, we must take our bearing from the market place. Users of our services must define what we do. We must connect with and respond promptly to their needs efficiently and effectively. Our business model must be in tune with clients’ demands and the realities of our environment. If we choose to diversify, it should be into areas of shared services which can reduce operational cost and enhance efficiency and profitability”.