Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite on Monday in Abuja assumed duty as the Minister of Industry Trade and Investment shortly after being sworn in by President Bola Tinubu.
BRANDPOWER reports that Uzoka-Anite was received by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Evelyn Ngige and Directors in the ministry.
While promising to attract more investments into the country, the minister assured of her determination to promote business friendly environment for indigenous businesses to grow.
According to her, our work here is to ensure that we create more jobs, more employment, lift people above the poverty line and ensure that small and middle enterprises and industries that are already existing expand and grow better.
“Our job is to attract investments. There is so much opportunity. One of them I have already witnessed here is the human resources.
“If we only just harnessed our human resource potential Nigeria will be great even without our mineral resources.
“Even without our non-mineral resources only our human capital alone is enough to take us where we want to.
“Now combine that with the new potential we have with mineral and non-mineral deposits.
“I think it is just for us to open the doors and say investors please come what do you want, we are here to facilitate that,’’ she said.
The minister said that projecting Nigeria’s image positively was crucial in attracting investors and ensuring that businesses thrive in the country.
According to her, our ministry would ensure that the image of the country out there is as investment friendly as the investments that we have here.
“So, I want to put that on the table and we will be doing a whole lot of branding and image making for the country because we have to re-introduce ourselves to the world.
“To tell the world what the country has and to tell it in the way that will make them happy to come.
“Secondly, apart from doing that is to ensure that we showcase the resources and the potential that we have in the country very well.
“This actually goes into more of having the investment opportunities clearly defined with all the necessary opportunities, processes, procedures that they need to go through.
“It is important to make it clear to them to understand and then make it easy for them to assess,’’ she said.
Describing her assumption of duty as a new dawn, Uzoka-Anite emphasised the need to do businesses to fit into global best practices.
“ This is not the era for growing money alone. This is the era for investment. This is the era to open your doors to attract investors, to bring in people to showcase what you have.
“A lot of people are out there looking for how to come into the country. It is our opportunity, it is our time to make that happen and I am happy to be on this journey with you,’’ she said.
While seeking the cooperation of staff members to achieve the ministry’s mandate, the minister promised to operate an open door policy.
“I welcome all ideas. I have an open door policy; let us brainstorm, teach me what you know and I will also give you some of what I do.
“And I am sure that together we will achieve this,’’ she said.
Earlier, Ngige while welcoming the minister assured her of the support to oversee the activities of the ministry.
Ngige urged the minister to bring her wealth of experience to bear in the ministry’s task of developing economic growth, boosting industrialisation and promoting Micro Small and Medium Enterprises as well as facilitating trade in goods and services.
Doris Uzoka-Anite who hails from Oguta Local Government Area in Imo, is a career banker with significant experience in financial markets. She is a medical doctor by training.
