President Bola Tinubu has hailed the new initiatives by Qatari investors to explore opportunities in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
He recently assured that the country will always be open to such strategic collaborations.
Speaking while receiving Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, a special envoy from the Amir of the State of Qatar, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tinubu talked up the nation’s readiness to follow up on his state visit to Qatar last year.
According to him, Qatar can rest assured that he’ll implement all bilateral agreements between both nations because he has already directed Abubakar Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning; Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national Orientation; and Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, to unite and ensure their quick execution.
“To all the members of the delegation, I want to say a big thank you for coming to Nigeria. We are grateful to God for what we have experienced as partners in progress. I am also glad that the Amir of Qatar greatly remembers the issues discussed during my visit last year.
Let me commend the brotherly relations between Qatar and Nigeria. The Ambassador knows that I take Qatar very seriously. We are willing to go further in our bilateral relations,” he said.
BAT revealed that the Qatari government has displayed maturity and foresight by striving for global peace, and they deserve to be commended for doing the right thing.
He further noted that there are ongoing reforms to streamline Nigeria’s tax system, which will make it easier for foreign investors to do business in the country.
“I am proud of your efforts to bring peace and stability to the world. I see your efforts in human development, peace and prosperity. Like you, we are sandwiched between the challenge of terrorism and helping our neighbours. We are conscious of who is our friend and those helping us to ameliorate the problems.
We are making efforts to reform our tax system. Going by experiences of the past and the need to depart from old ways, our reforms have been hard. I made tough decisions so that we could grow. We are gradually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
You can’t find a better partner than Nigeria. I always follow the global issues and your efforts. You have to do more in Nigeria to help fight poverty in the humanitarian area. You have done well in developing a knowledge-based economy in Qatar, but what about Nigeria.
We are doing well as much as we can as the leader in Africa. We want to continue to promote good relations with you. We are ready to do whatever we can do from here. We subscribe to peace efforts by your government. There can be no development without peace,” he added.
A special envoy from the Amir of the State of Qatar, who is also Minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, reiterated Amir’s commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation, stressing that a top-class Qatari business delegation will be in Nigeria in the coming weeks to explore opportunities in agriculture, food security, and other key sectors.
