Edo Government says it has secured a N2 billion tourism investment with the Miami-Dada County, Florida, United States.
The state Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Co-operatives, Mrs Afie Braimoh, said this on Thursday in Benin.
Braimoh disclosed that she struck the deal for the investment at her last visit to America, where she met with the County’s Director of Protocol and International Affairs for Miami International Airport, Mr Desmond Alufohai, who hailed from Sabo-Ora, Owan West Local Government Area of the state.
The commissioner said Gov. Godwin Obaseki, would on June 18, receive a 40-man delegation of the trade mission from the Miami- Dade County, Florida, United States of America, expected to explore opportunities for investment in the state’s tourism, maritime and aviation sectors, among others.
According to her, the 40-man delegation will include four Miami commissioners, among other top U.S-based investors.
“They will explore various opportunities for partnership and investment in the state, leveraging the reforms and business-friendly environment as well as incentives provided by the Obaseki-led administration to support business growth and sustainability,” she said.
The commissioner said the government was pursuing programmes and reforms aimed at engendering sustainable growth and development and ensuring economic prosperity for Edo people, and reassured that the investors would leverage the opportunity of the visit to invest in new frontiers.
Braimoh noted that the County Director had facilitated several annual trade missions across Africa and other continents for years.
The commissioner said the state Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Co-operatives had set up a high-powered Planning Committee which included other Commissioners in the Ministries of Tourism; Security; Oil, Gas and Mining, and Agriculture with the goal of ensuring that the gains of the trade mission’s one-day visit to the state were fully maximised.
She said the team had a special interest in investment in Africa’s tourism, maritime, and aviation sectors, which were in line with the Obaseki’s Making Edo Great Again (MEGA) Agenda to make Edo a tourist destination.
Other areas of possible collaboration, according to the commissioner, included maritime services with opportunities to export ‘Made in Edo’ products via Miami International Port.(NAN)
