Tinubu’s meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, presented a unique opportunity to expand ties of prosperity for Nigerians with a pragmatic approach towards ensuring the effective execution of agreements struck.. Photo: Radio Nigeria archive
President Bola Tinubu has met with leaders of nations identified as key partners in his economic development, diplomacy drive for local investment and wealth creation.
“It is also about the practicality of aligning the perspectives of your large-scale manufacturers, such as Volkswagen and others, with the reality of the new incentives my government is putting in place for them to come and prosper across multiple value chains and sectors inside of our country,” the President implored them.
Intrigued by the specific economic focus of the President’s proposal, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz acknowledged the mutually beneficial nature of an escalation in the scale of economic ties with Africa’s largest economy.
“I can appreciate this opportunity to advance our economic relations. Your market is unique, and our companies have a history in Nigeria. We acknowledge the business-friendly reforms you have put in place. I am happy to inform you of my desire to visit you in Nigeria in October, which will allow us to carry forward these initiatives,” the German leader told President Tinubu.
Also, the Leader of Asia’s fourth largest economy, South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol, commended the President’s regional leadership in upholding democratic tenets and norms.
President Tinubu asked for enhanced South Korean presence in Nigeria’s local manufacturing sector.
“We will work point-by-point with you to secure rapidly implementable MoUs across sectors of partnership that will involve the active presence of your biggest firms. We see fantastic opportunity between our nations, such as agricultural development, but specifically, there is more we can do to advance ICT innovation,” President Tinubu assured his Korean counterpart.
The hosting Head of State responded in the affirmative to the economic partnership proposal, even as he expressed gratitude for the President’s invitation.
During the G-20 sideline meetings, President Tinubu also had substantive, informal exchanges of views with US President, Joe Biden; European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen; and World Bank President, Ajay Banga.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier scheduled to meet with the leadership of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on his way back as he plans to stopover after leaving New Delhi, India.
Following discussions during a recent visit by the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, in Abuja, the President’s scheduled (stop-over) meeting was designed as a follow-up to chat ways of addressing specific pressing concerns in the relationship between the two countries.
A statement issued on Sunday by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said the President was “maximising the opportunity” presented by the stop-over at the UAE to equally “advance his investment promotion objectives” with high-level authorities in the public and private sectors of the Emirate.
Reporting by Abdullah Bello; Editing by Juliet Onwurah, Chinasa Ossai, Julian Osamoto and Tony Okerafor