Ajimobi woos investors from China

Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi (sixth right); his wife, Florence (fifth right); Chairman/President, China Polaris Group, Zhang Wendong (seventh left) and others, after the governor’s address to Chinese investors, in China, at the weekend. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF INFORMATION.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has stepped up moves to bring investors from China into the state.

He assured the investing public of their safety and that of their assets.
The governor gave the assurance at the weekend while addressing about 1,000 Chinese investors on the need to participate in the Polaris-Pacesetter Free Trade Zone Development Limited in the state at the Great Hall of the People in China.
Governor Ajimobi reiterated that the free trade zone was a significant departure from previous experiments in Nigeria as it was being anchored on the China-Africa industrial capacity assistance and cooperation model, saying that the project had its bilateral as well as functional sister relationship with the Guye-Tangshan Free Trade Zone in China.

He said it would further deepen bilateral relationship between China and Nigeria.

According to him, “Oyo State is genuinely and sufficiently interested in the Chinese industrialisation model. To this end, we recently kick started an industrial revolution with the turning of the sod of the $2.5 billion Polaris-Pacesetter Free Trade Zone on a 1,000 hectare parcel of land in Ibadan, the state capital.

“The government of Oyo State is on a mission to improve the quality of lives of its people by bringing development to the state that will leap the economy. We are conscious of the fact that this can be better achieved in conjunction with proven and tested investment partners,” the governor noted.

He explained that ready local and national markets await the investing partners, adding that with a largely youthful state population of approximately 10 million and a national population of over 180 million, there are huge opportunities for manufacturers and service providers.

“The state’s economy is an emerging one. This presents no limits for the investing public as the economy can be expanded and stretched without limitations.”

It will be recalled that the state government recently turned the sod of a Polaris-Pacesetter Free Trade Zone Development Limited in conjunction with a Chinese company, China Polaris Group, which will cost the partners the sum of $2 billion with the initial take off of $500 million.