A seven-man delegation from Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency, BIPA, is in Anambra State for a three-day peer learning visit of Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency, ANSIPPA.

 

The delegation is made up of the Executive Assistant to the Bayelsa State Governor on Policy and Strategy, Dr Patterson Ogon, the Director General, Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Ms. Patience Abah, among other Senior Special Assistants to the SSG, Bayelsa State, and the Technical Aide to the Director General of Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency.

Unveiling the aims and objectives of their visit during a meeting with ANSIPPA Management and the Anambra State Commissioner for Industry, Mr. Christian Udechukwu, at ANSIPPA office in Awka, the leader of the delegation, Dr. Ogon, said following the track record set by ANSIPPA, they are in the state to study its model to enable them to domesticate same in Bayelsa State.

 

He announced that Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency is set to kick off on fourteenth February, and expressed hope that the visit will aid them in setting a template for the next four years.

While thanking Anambra State Government for its hospitality, Dr. Ogon, appealed that the visit will not be their last; as they will make more visits in due time to properly put them on expected trajectory for their smooth take off.

 

Welcoming his guests, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ANSIPPA, Mr. Mark Okoye, announced that with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s vision to industrialize Anambra State, the agency will in the near future be renamed “Anambra State Development and Investment Cooperation”, ADIC, based on its new role in achieving the vision.

Mr. Okoye, who went down memory lane on the history of ANSIPPA, noted that it was conceptualized during Governor Peter Obi’s administration in 2014 and passed into law during Governor Willie Obiano’s tenure, with the mandate of managing the state’s investment portfolio.

 

For the Anambra State Commissioner for Industry, Mr. Udechukwu, the state is keen on having a domestic population that is productive at home and exportable abroad; to deepen the existing number one asset of the state, which is its people, hence investment in free education; since according to him, knowledge is the currency of the future.

 

He also made the delegation understand that the state is also undertaking a lot of reforms to enable it move up in the level of ease of doing business, as well as investing in infrastructure; to ensure that whatever that is produced within the state can be easily evacuated by land, air and sea through the concession of its seaports.

The delegation will, as part of its visit, meet with the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Solo Chukwulobelu, visit Ministries of Lands, Industry, Budget and Planning, and as well tour Awka Millennium City, shopping mall, Solution Fun City, International Convention Center and Hotels in the state.