The Ondo Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (ONDOCIMA) have been urged by Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, managing director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), to become an active partner in the economic development of the state by establishing a special agro-allied district for the production and processing of agricultural produce for export.
According to Martins Odeh, the Authority’s manager of corporate communications, in a press statement issued Friday, the NEPZA chairman gave the charge Thursday while hosting the new executive of the chambers in Abuja.
He added that ONDOCIMA was founded to have a lasting and beneficial economic impact on the state and that the goal of the chamber movement was to stimulate sound economic development.
He stated that the pioneers of the state branch of the association conceived the plans for such a specific agricultural site and other companies, but that a variety of external issues had rendered “these ambitions unrealisable.”
ONDOCIMA President, Olugbenga Araoyinbo, expressed delight at the warm reception extended to him and his entourage by the NEPZA chief executive, adding that the visit was indeed an eye opener.
He stated that Adesugba has repeatedly demonstrated that President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination to lead the movement of industrialising the country under the Free Trade Zone program was not a mockery.
He appreciated the suggestion that the association establishes an agro-allied district where members and investors can be involved in mechanised farming and processing of farm produce for local use and import.
