Emeka Udeze, President, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, says improved quality of locally manufactured goods will reduce Nigerians’ penchant for foreign goods.
He said this at a forum of the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja, adding that lack of patriotism was responsible for the hunger for foreign products.
Udeze said: “Nigeria has become self-sufficient in rice production in less than two years and so we are going to become self-sufficient in many other areas.
“The products that are done in Nigeria have very high quality.
“Take the pharmaceutical industry; products that are regulated here are easily checked than products that are brought in from abroad that are not regulated from these parts of the world.”
He also spoke on the 29th Enugu International Trade Fair scheduled to hold from March 16 to March 26, adding that it has been packaged to strengthen the promotion of critical sectors of the economy.
He said that the theme of the Fair was “Engendering the Competitiveness of Nigeria Products in the Global Market”.
Udeze said that the fair would feature seminars by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.
This, he said, would afford them the opportunity to talk to manufacturers about regulations and how they should go about making their products qualitative, competitive and internationally acceptable.