By Golok Nanmwa,Jos

Plateau state Governor Simon Lalong on Wednesday said that the Rescue Administration in the state is matching words with action in ensuring that business activities blossom so as to create wealth and prosperity for our citizens .

Lalong made this known while commissioning of one stop investment center in Jos .

He said that the occasion represents a major step in the pursuance of the Sustainable Economic Rebirth Policy-thrust of the administration.

” Since coming into office, we have continued to tackle one after the other, challenges that hamper economic activities in our State. “

“The first one we paid attention to is insecurity which by the grace of God; the cooperation of the citizens; the support of security agencies; as well as other stakeholders, we have been able to achieve substantially.”

Lalong said that investors, tourists and other people who want to stay on the Plateau or carry out businesses no longer consider the State as a dangerous place to be or entertain any fear. Rather, many are pouring into the State with others who had left coming back in droves.”

” With this trajectory, we have realised the need to tackle other issues such as the ease of doing business which is critical to the socio-economic development of our State. “

“This is important because we realise that some investors have had to contend with bottlenecks of shuttling from one MDA to another in a bid to register and carry out business activities.”

The Governor also said that as part of its commitment towards sustainable economic recovery and to improve the ease of doing business, the State Government therefore established the One Stop Investment Centre (OSIC).

” This is as an investment mechanism where relevant government agencies are brought together to one location, coordinated and streamlined to provide efficient and transparent services to investors in the State. “

He said that the One Stop Investment Centre will therefore reduce time and cost of securing business permits, and also enhance the application of legislation and regulations to support competition and business friendly policies.

” With our consolidated tax law, and legislation to digitise the land registry, Plateau State has shown that it has the right policies and laws to support business investments. However, we need to keep optimizing and simplifying our processes to make it easier to start and run businesses. “

Lalong further said that with the commissioning of the One Stop Investment Centre, his administration shall remain committed to continuous refinement of the processes for obtaining business permits and also improving the quality of regulations that impact the private sector.

” Because today’s world is driven by Information and Communication Technologies, I expect that this centre will deploy the most modern technologies and applications that may require less physical contacts thereby making it easier for investors to obtain solutions from every part of the world.”

He said that it is therefore expected that the Centre would showcase the business potentials of the State, strengthen its regulatory processes and generally promote economic activities of the state.

“It is Government’s desire that we attract and keep investors who will create, maintain and expand their business in the State. “

Lalong implored those who are going to operate this centre to showcase the true spirit of hospitality, kindness and courtesy that the people of Plateau State are known for.

He said Government will not hesitate to deal decisively with anyone who engages in acts capable of tarnishing the image of the State or creating bureaucratic bottlenecks that have been removed by the establishment of this centre.

” It is also necessary to state that we are in the process of establishing the Plateau State Investment Promotion Agency that will be a ‘home for investors’ in providing the much needed information, aftercare services, attracting Foreign Direct Investment, and stimulating domestic investments. “

He also said that with the commissioning of this Centre, Plateau State Government is further highlighting its areas of comparative advantage in Agriculture, Tourism, and Mining which are waiting for investors to tap into and create jobs and prosperity for our people.

Lalong also restated the state government plan to host an Investment and Economic Summit when the COVID 19 pandemic is over .

“We shall soon bring together investors and businessmen and women from within and outside Nigeria to showcase our State and its opportunities.

“With Covid-19 impacting the global economy and seriously affecting our State’s fortunes, we need to adopt new approaches to survival by taking advantage of avenues that will assist our people engage in businesses and job creation.

Lalong also said that he has since directed the Plateau State Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (PLASMEDA) as well as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to ensure that they mobilise, train and empower willing citizens towards participating in all empowerment initiatives of the Federal Government as part of the post-Covid recovery plan.

” We are also re-orienting our MDAs to create and sustain a business-friendly environment in the conduct of their day-to-day activities as part of systematic public service reforms.”

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Gov Lalong commissions one stop investment center in Jos