By Ismail Abdulaziz
President Bola Tinubu will be using the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to exploit his administration’s economic diplomacy, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Friday in Abuja.
He said that the president would also meet with global business chief executives and world leaders on the sidelines of the annual 78th UNGA holding from Sept. 19 to Sept. 23.
The 78th Session of the UNGA will feature the High-Level General Debate under the theme, “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”.
The UN General Assembly delivers recommendations on many international issues and manages internal UN appointments and budget approval.
Each UN member state gets one vote in the assembly.
For years, the assembly has struggled to make its work more substantive and transparent, and experts say reform is needed.
The 2023 debate will centre on climate change, the war in Ukraine and countries’ progress toward their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
‘’Aside from the engagements he is going to be having at the General Assembly, aside from the act of participation that the Nigerian delegation will be engaging in at the assembly, there are series of very important side activities that will have wide ranging ramifications on the Nigerian economy.
‘’Mr President will be meeting with major chief executives and leaders of multinational firms cutting across multiple sectors of the economy. The President will be meeting with the President of the Microsoft Company worldwide, Brad Smith, and Sir Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs for Meta technologies.
‘’He will also meet with the global CEO of General Electric, the global CEO of Exxon Mobil Oil and Gas Company. We see this as a major opportunity to once again lay out in detail what Nigeria has to offer with respect to the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, and the fiscal and tax incentives.’’
Ngelale added that the president would also participate in the Africa Global Business Initiative to showcase Nigeria’s potential to high level chief executives from around the world.
He said that Tinubu would also chair Nigeria’s Small and Medium Scale Business Summit where opportunities abound to launch the country’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises into the world market.
‘’This is really a very strategic one. The President is determined to ensure that we don’t just look at large industries but that we key in on opportunities that are being presented by MSMEs to make an impact in foreign markets.
‘’Yes, the President is focused on attracting foreign direct investment, attracting jobs, attracting new tax revenues into the shores of our country. But he’s also focused in on making sure that home-grown Nigerian companies have fair and equal access to foreign and international markets.
‘’In addition to that, the President will be speaking at the UN High Level reform of the global financial architecture. It will allow our president to lay out his vision for a fairer international financial system that does not any longer leave out developing countries from the decision making table.’’
Besides, Ngelale said that Tinubu would have bilateral discussions with various presidents and heads of government including the Presidents of the USA, Comoros, South Africa, the European Union, Brazil, Algeria, Prime Ministers of Netherlands and Spain as well as the King of Jordan.
‘’There are some that will still be added, but it’s fair to say that within a very short few days in New York, the President will certainly be one of the most active and sought after with respect to his engagements in both bilateral and multilateral platforms,’’ he said. (NAN)
