Chairman of the NIMAREX 2015 planning committee, Mr. Adedoyin Ayo has called on the Federal Government to seriously look into the challenging issue of maritime funding for vessel acquisition and tonnage building, saying that the maritime sector contributes immensely to Nigeria's GDP.
Speaking at the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) 2015 in Lagos on Monday, Adedoyin harped on the need for investments in the Nigerian maritime industry to be exponentially upped.
Chairman of the NIMAREX 2015 planning committee, Mr. Adedoyin Ayo has called on the Federal Government to seriously look into the challenging issue of maritime funding for vessel acquisition and tonnage building, saying that the maritime sector contributes immensely to Nigeria's GDP.
Speaking at the Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) 2015 in Lagos on Monday, Adedoyin harped on the need for investments in the Nigerian maritime industry to be exponentially upped.
He said that in the light of the international economic situation which has adversely affected Nigeria's monolithic economy primed on crude "organizers of NIMAREX deemed it timely and topical to address the re-building and re-engineering of the economy by throwing up challenges for the policy makers".
Adedoyin assured stakeholders gathered at the event that their contributions at the three days expo will be instrumental to the dimension of change so much needed to get the industry to play its strategic role and to provide government with a roadmap to effectively harness the massive potentials of the industry for the benefit of Nigerian economy.
Speaking earlier at the event, Secretary General of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) Mr. Tunji Brown urged government to implement existing legislation in order to give Nigerians the right of first refusal in its domestic borne trade.
Mr. Brown noted that the maritime sector is capital intensive but that the Nigerian financial system is yet to fully appreciate it's peculiarity and funding requirements.
He said that this has continued to pose a major challenge to attempts at jump starting sustained activity in the sector.
"It is instructive to note that investment in vessel acquisition does not lend itself to quick returns, I believe that there must be sufficient confidence in the maritime sector in order to secure long term funding for the development of the sector" he said.
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