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By Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah, Executive
Governor, Akwa
Ibom State.
During
our first term, May 1999 - May 2003, we focused our energies
on laying the proper foundation for sustainable growth and
development for our state. We introduced fundamental
economic reforms and embarked on a number of strategic
projects with far-reaching implications on the long-term
economic well being of our people. One such project is
the Independent Power Plant, IPP, designed to generate 685
megawatts of power from our abundant gas resources. The
project is advancing at great speed and we expect that on
completion, it will have significant impact on the national
power delivery capability. The Ibom Power project is a
precursor to the refining and petrochemical project, which
is billed to commence shortly. Both projects have far
reaching implications for our economic transformation. We
are building on the gains of these initial efforts. My
Administration remains committed to improving
infrastructure, building capacity and creating
investor-friendly conditions that support efficiency,
competition and transparency. Our telecommunications
system has been updated and now provides international
standard services. We are now part of the GSM network.
Our investment in roads development has opened up the state
and with it, greater access to new markets in the
hinterland. We continue to re-engineer our processes
so that our public sector can run with a private sector
mentality, delivering unparalleled values to customers. We
have inaugurated a Strategic Economic Empowerment Fund, SEEF,
to finance core private initiatives with long-term economic
value for our state and people. Akwa Ibom is rich in
resources. Beside crude petroleum, a number of other
mineral resources such as limestone, clay, coal, gold, salt
and glass sand abound in commercial quantity here. Our
land is arable and supports year-round agriculture. Indeed,
the agricultural-fisheries, livestock, forestry, crop and
food-potentials of the state remain largely untapped. We
will provide incentives and strategic partnership for
investors in the agricultural sub-sector and allied areas.
Come, let us work together as partners to exploit the rich
natural endowments of the state. Our people are warm,
friendly and industrious. They represent some of the best
pool of skilled manpower in the country. Our
programmes have helped to give skill and re-orientate them
on the imperatives of the new economy. I am inviting
you to take advantage of these opportunities and choose Akwa Ibom State as an ideal location for
starting, expanding or relocating your business. I look
forward to welcoming you to Akwa Ibom State.
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