ABUJA – In order to reduce medical tourism, the FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello has called on the government of Czech Republic to take advantage of the liberalized business environment to invest in the medical sub-sector of the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister made this call on Thursday while receiving a Czech delegation led by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Marian Jurecka that paid him a visit in his office at Area 11, Garki I District, Abuja.
Bello noted that the people of the Czech Republic have a lot of experiences and expertise in the area of health technology that is worth sharing with other countries, especially on new technics in the sub-sector; considering the huge success story of Czechs in that field.
His words: “If your companies are interested or your private people are looking at medical markets, there is huge potential, particularly good quality medical services using modern technology and of course, the expertise that your country has”.
The Minister remarked that there are several other areas of opportunity because the city has grown and like every other city that is growing; social facilities are over stretched, particularly in terms of waste management.
According to him, “the entire system of refuse collection, sorting out of the refuse and making sure that they are disposed off in a very environmentally friendly manner is also a veritable investment opportunity particularly, with the overall population of the territory now moving astronomically towards six million, which is much higher than what was planned for the city”.
Malam Bello urged the government and corporate organizations in the Republic of Czech to make available opportunities for students and officials within the FCT Administration who can be availed with courses and training in their country on products or projects that will be beneficial.
“This will provide the advantage for students and our government officials to see your country, understand your structure, learn your language, so, when they come back, they become those that will facilitate the relationship between the two countries,” he emphasized.
Bello said, “historically, your country has always been very supportive of our country militarily and also through training and other facilities and we thank you for that”.
Speaking earlier, the visiting Czech Republic Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Marian Jurecka said that he is in Nigeria with “more than 25 businesses representing various industries such as security, security systems, healthcare including manufacture of medical devices, the banking sector, mechanical engineering and agriculture and food production”.
The Agriculture Minister noted that the relations between Nigeria and Czech Republic is very cordial and very friendly and hoped that the visit will help to strengthen the mutual relations.
“The Czech government wants to continue the support it is providing to your country in the fight against terrorism through the training of your security forces, supplies of military material and servicing military equipment. We consider this support very important because we understand that in today’s world, nobody is safe when it comes to terrorism and you are one country that is fighting at the first line; for that you deserve our partnership,” he reiterated.
