China is keen on joining hands with the Western Nigerian state of Kwara to establish a textile industrial park in the state.
Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Gu XiaoJie revealed this when Kwara’s Governor Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed led a joint delegation of the state and a Chinese company, Ming Bo Jin Sheng Star Co Ltd, to the Ambassador in Abuja last weekend.
According to the governor, apart from the fact that “Kwara State is a gateway to the north and the south, the state is not new in midwiving realistic Public Private Partnership as exemplified by the Shonga farms initiative, a new hotbed of Commercial Agriculture in Nigeria”.
The Governor had earlier told the Ambassador that given the current economic climate in Nigeria, the states need to take risks and go beyond the traditional methods if they expected to meet their electoral promises.
The governor, who had led a similar delegation to Dr Okechukwu Enyinna Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, said, “When established, the park is expected to accommodate more than 40 textile industries with the state providing necessary enabling environment to jump start the park.”
On behalf of China, the Ambassador has promised the Kwara government that his country will treat the budding relationship in the textile industry with the Western Nigerian state “as a priority”.
“Textile is a traditional industry to China. It is common knowledge that Chinese textile products compete favourably with those of Germany and Italy. Our companies are also conscious of corporate social responsibility in African countries,” he said.
