Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State is seeking the cooperation of
the Japanese government in training the youths in the state on vocational and
technological training. This he said is part of his strategic plan to empower
the people.
To facilitate this, the State Governor held discussions with Gaku
Sato, the First Secretary Economic Development Cooperation of the Embassy of
Japan at the Abuja Liaison Office of Edo State on Thursday.
Briefing newsmen after a session with the Japanese official,
Governor Obaseki said his key strategy was the empowerment of youths and
building capacity of the people, adding that one of the things currently in
progress in collaboration with the Japanese government is to improve the
Technical Colleges and other training facilities in the state.
According to Obaseki, “this is part of why we approached the
Japanese Embassy under the various bilateral agreements we have in revamping
the technical schools”, he said.
Speaking further on attracting Japanese investment in the state,
the Governor said, “As you know, Japan has also a lot of experience in growing
rice, and we have a large rice belt in the state and we have looked at cooperating
with them.
“This weekend in Benin, we have over 70 investors in Agriculture
who would be meeting with me. We are talking very direct with them and asking
them of off taking our agricultural products, in addition to getting the right
seeds, rice farming practices so that we could engage our youths properly”
Obaseki informed.
On advancing investment in the Transport sector, he said, “Edo is
a Transport hub, and as I discussed with the Ambassador, there are lots of
Japanese companies investing in Transportation and automobile and we would be
exploring that opportunity in areas of manufacturing” the Governor notes.
According to the governor, “We are also intensifying efforts in
the areas of Solid Minerals, as we have 200 mining licenses under the solid
minerals while we are working out details on how to collaborate with the
Ministry of solid minerals, so that some of our raw materials could be used in
producing ceramics”.
In his submission, Gaku Sato, said “We are already talking to
Japanese business people about Edo state. For most of them, Nigeria is Lagos,
but we are working hard to ensure they focus attention on other states as we
are already discussing on areas of investment with the governor”.
He said, “I am also discussing with our Japanese investors to pay
attention to Edo State on areas of cooperation in training the youths and we
have already set out modalities for this cooperation. Japanese companies who
are into electrical appliances would also come in.
“After this session with the governor, we would have seminar to
invite Japanese Companies and experts from Edo states to exchange ideas and get
Japanese businessmen to be enlightened about Edo” the diplomat added.
REPORT BY KINGSLEY UCHEGBU
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