30th December, 2011
The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Engr. Omar Suleiman, has said that Nigerian seaports currently handle 70 per cent of cargos coming into West Africa.
Suleiman who stated this last week while receiving the delegation of the Korean Government led by her Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jong-Hyun Choi, at the Marina headquarters, Lagos, said the situation makes it mandatory for continuous investment and development of infrastructure, adding that as ports in the authority strive to be the hub of Central and West Africa sub-region, investors are being encouraged to undertake ventures in ports development.
He disclosed that NPA is prepared to partner with the Government of Korea to ensure the successful completion of the proposed deep sea port project in Ibaka, Akwa Ibom State, and any other area of common interest.
Earlier, the Korean Ambassador said the visit was to find ways to strengthen ties between Korea and Nigeria, having been working in the areas of education, public health, capacity building and infrastructural development in the country.
According to him, “We are in a unique position to share what we have learnt for the past five decades of achieving remarkable economic growth with developing countries having turned ourselves from one of the poorest country to the fourteenth largest economy in the world ’’.
Mr jong-hyun Choi said that considering the huge potential in the economy of Nigeria with over 150 million population and the fact that Korea is dependent on trade, having achieved $1trillion volume of trade in 2011, cooperation with Nigerian Ports Authority in improving and building an efficient port industry is inevitable.