Nigeria, Canada plan investment forum

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, is optimistic that the forthcoming Canada-Nigeria Investment Conference in Toronto, Ontario, will further strengthen trade relations between both countries.
The conference is being organized by the Canadian Council on Africa, in partnership with the Nigeria High Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. It will hold between 2nd and 4th of May, 2013.
Fielding questions from newsmen on Tuesday, Aganga, expressed delight that the relationship between the two countries was going on extremely well, noting that about 70 Nigerian companies have indicated interest to attend the conference.
The delegation, the minister said will focus on critical areas of interest to Nigeria like power, health, education, mining and aviation.
According to him, the “big thing happening between Nigeria and Canada is the investment forum which is going to take place between 2nd and 4th of May, 2013. The preparations and the business relationship between the two countries are going on extremely well.
“We have had a lot interests from the Canadian government and private sector.We have also had about 60 to 70 Nigerian companies who have shown interest in the forum. We have a number of state governments which are willing to participate. So, everything is moving on in the right direction. There are a number of areas we are focusing on.
“You know Canada is strong in the area of mining, it is a major area. Power, especially in the area of hydro power is also a major area. Health and education are also important. People forget that when you are talking about investment, you also have to invest heavily in human capacity management.
“In the area of aviation, we already have a strong relationship with Canada and the Minister of Aviation will be there to follow up. We will be looking at agriculture and related areas including petrol chemicals.
“Nollywood is also a major area, our film industry. You know Canada has a great film industry. They have requested that we come with some of the Nollywood stars and we are going to do that and hopefully sign some MOU’s before we come back but for all these to happen you need what we call investment promotion and protection agreement IPPA.

“But with the Canadian government, we have a different agreement call VIPA we have negotiated that and they are coming here around 15th to 20th to finalize the negotiations that will provide the legal basis for most of what we did in terms of in vestment promotions”, Aganga said.