By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE
LAGOS — President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the Organised Private Sector, OPS, of providing a conducive business environment, with the improvement in infrastructure, to reduce the cost of doing business in the country.

The President gave the assurance at the 2011 Lagos International Trade Fair, Lagos.

He said that he would enhance the global competitiveness of Nigerian products in the global market.

Represented by Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, the President said, that a credit guarantee scheme for made-in-Nigeria products would soon be introduced by the Federal Government.

According to him, the Federal Government was prepared to ensure the eradication or reduction of fake and sub-standard products in the country. He said: “The ministry is working closely with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria to reduce or completely eliminate the issue of fake and sub-standard products.”

Speaking on the country’s foreign policies as regard to trade and investments, Aganga said that his ministry had set up a Trade and Investment Desks in all foreign missions to galvanise the flow of foreign investments into the country, adding “there have been a shift in the country’s foreign policies with emphasis on economic diplomacy.”

President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Otunba Femi Deru, in his address, pointed out that the theme for the 2011 Lagos International Trade Fair “Increasing competitiveness of Nigerian Products in the Global Market,” was chosen to underscore the critical importance of business competitiveness in the acceleration of economic progress of the country.

He added: “the quality of the investment climate has a lot to do with the economic advancement of the country.”

National President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Dr. Herbert Ajayi, in his address, commended the Federal Government’s transformational agenda and urged Nigerian and foreign investors to maintain good business practices and ethics.