Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, has said that industrialization and the private sector were key to growing the state’s economy.

Speaking in Germany, at the Cologne Forum, host of the 2014 African Finance and Investment Forum, AFIF, where he led a delegation from the state to unfold the “one stop shop investment incentive,” he said investors were being granted land acquisition concessions, reduced stamp duty charges, permits and licence cost cutting and timeliness and liaising with federal regulatory agencies to facilitate operational licensing procedures to encourage them to invest in the state.

Explaining that industrialization remains the key driver of his Delta Beyond Oil initiative, Uduaghan said that the private sector was leading the establishment of industries in the state by harnessing the economic potentials of the immediate environment and leveraging on  the state’s comparative advantage.

Using the Delta Beyond Oil initiative, he identified five key investment areas in the state to include power, manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism, adding that Delta State was the most viable destination for investors, “a situation boosted by its status as a leading oil and gas producer, a coastal state with access to four seaports, having a young, educated and active population and continuous investment in security.”

Other incentives for investors, according to him, include “a five-year tax holiday, duty draw back for export-oriented concerns and tariff incentives on value chain enterprises.”
He added that “with a population of 5.1 million and Gross Domestic Product, GDP, of $24.88 billion in 2013 as well as huge investments in physical infrastructure development, security and human capital development, Delta State offers an exceptional and profitable haven for investors.”

He added that “three special economic zones targeting diverse areas had been set up with the private sector leading their development. These are the Koko/Ogidigben Free Trade Zone, Warri Industrial Business Park and Asaba ICT Park.”