Nigeria Begins Update Of 2002 Trade Policy
Twenty years after the revision of the trading blueprint currently in use, Nigeria, Monday began the process to update its obsolete Trade Policy.
Before its revision in 2002, the current policy was articulated in 1989 under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and has since not been reviewed.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo Monday in Abuja to review and update the trade document, with consideration for the current global economic realities.
The committee drew its members from the Industry, Trade and Investment Ministry, (FMITI), the Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiation (NOTN), Nigeria Customs Service(NCS), Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC), Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), National Association of Nigerian Traders(NANTS), the academia among others.
The development signal a new trajectory on how Nigeria uses international trade and investment as veritable tools for economic growth and poverty reduction.
The new document that is anticipated will give priorities to building a thriving and sustainable economy; enlarge agricultural output for food security; attain energy sufficiency in power and petroleum products; and expand transport and other infrastructure development.
“So, today, we have begun a new phase in the ongoing efforts by the Ministry to review and update the National Trade Policy of Nigeria 2002, to ensure that the new trade policy framework reflects the very dramatic changes that have taken place in the global trade and economic policy landscape, especially the 2008/2009 global financial and economic crises, as well as the current health, economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic”, stated the minister.
“All the developments have greatly affected the way we produce and trade, including the evolution of global production networks and global value chains and it is, therefore, the firm commitment of the ministry that Nigeria has to strategically respond to these global trends, to promote and sustain its trade performance.
“It is also the ministry’s expectation that the updated Trade Policy of Nigeria document will effectively capture the nine core policy priorities of the recently launched Medium-Term National Plan 2021-2025″, he concluded.
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