By Martha Nyam
Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, has lauded the business community for their support and collaboration which he said, resulted in the rejuvenation of the economic fortunes of the state
Dr Makut Simon Macham, Director of Press and Public Affairs to the governor said this in a statement.
He said, Lalong made this known at the sixth annual governor’s meeting with the business community at the new Government House, Little Rayfield in Jos
Lalong said the level of commitment exhibited by the business community gave a lot of confidence to the administration to pursue economic revival and ease of doing business.
He said the support had enabled the government to undertake some of the laudable projects and programmes that had improved not only the GDP of the state, but uplifted the quality of life of many of citizens.
Lalong said that one of the critical goals of his administration was to make it easy for businesses to run efficiently and focus on improving the investment climate and business environment by introducing innovative reforms in the processes and activities of the business related government.
He explained that his constant engagement with the business community gave him the opportunity to clearly understand and address some of the challenges that made entrepreneurship difficult in the past.
He said this had helped his administration to make job creation a key consideration for all programmes in line with the state development strategy with emphasis shifted towards empowering youths to become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers.
The governor said through the creation of the One Stop Investment Centre (OSIC), the Multi Door Court House and the incentives given in land acquisition, infrastructure and tax holidays, the government made it attractive for businesses to spring up, thereby enabling MSMEs to increase their presence in the state.
Chairman, Economic Advisory Council, Ezekiel Gomos, said government’s passion for ensuring economic growth and prosperity pushed him to focus on key issues that impacted on ease of doing business.
Gomos said that security and infrastructure had improved effeciency and effectiveness of government MDAs among others which resulted in Plateau being ranked 14th in the ease of doing business nationally, a better outing from previous positions that were not appreciable.
Head of Policy and Strategy, GIZ, Akin Amoware said the state government had taken bold decisions to reform the business environment which has proven useful to business community and the citizens.
Amoware explained that such reforms which were a continous process needed to be sustained and enshrined in law to consolidate on the gains recorded.
The governor launched the Compendium of Reforms produced with the support of GIZ and thanked them for assisting the state to carry out most of the reforms.
Artisans in the state also presented an award to the governor for what they said was his passion for raising young entrepreneurs. (NAN)
