Nigeria/Republic of Slovenia to sign bilateral agreement in June

• discussions  underway for establishment of High Commission in Nigeria

Nigeria is to sign a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Slovenia before June this year, which is expected to raise economic cooperation between both countries.

President of Slovenia Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Fred Uduma, said this last week in Abuja when he led the first Slovenia trade mission/delegation to the Abuja Chamber of Commerce.

Uduma said discussions were underway by Slovenian authorities towards establishment of Republic of Slovenian Embassy in Nigeria, as the country had only one Embassy in Africa located in Egypt.

He said the Slovenia-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce was established 2013 with the aim to build, promote and facilitate trade and investment activities between Slovenia and Nigeria as well as countries in the region.

‘‘Our vision is to be the platform for genuine trade and investment drive. Being here today, with reputable companies from Slovenia and Croatia, reaffirms our mission and the objectives upon which the Chamber was established,’’ he said.

Apart from export and import of goods, the SNCC president said the proposed bilateral tie would take into account local content development in Nigeria by providing jobs to the Nigerians, thereby improving the lives of the people.

On his part, president, Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Tony Ejimkonye, said the Nigerian economy was too large to be ignored by any country interested to invest, particularly in Africa.

Ejimkonye traced the proposed Nigeria/Slovenia trade relation dated back to 2015, when the Abuja Chamber drafted an MoU in a bid to foster a bilateral relations with the Slovenia-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, which was sent the Chamber’s input.

‘‘We want to bring in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to Nigeria, form partnership with Slovenia in terms of non-oil investment. Our emphasis is on agriculture, mining and infrastructure. If they can find Nigerian partners to partner with them in these critical sectors, we will be happy,’’ he said.

In his own remarks, former Nigeria envoy to Slovenia, Dotun Adepoju, urged the two Chambers to look beyond oil and gas, especially in the areas of solid mineral exploration, waste management, technology, e-Government.

‘‘Though, the Slovenian economy is not big, but we can gain a lot as it is a way of doing business with non conventional partners beyond US and China,’’ he said.

Slovenia is reputed for its advancement in ICT, pharmaceutical industry, automobile, agriculture and education.