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China to further promote opening-up with focus on FTZs

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Xinhua

China would take more measures to promote the regional opening-up and strengthen coordinated development of the regions, with more favorable policies titled toward the inland and border areas, the Economic Information Daily reported on Wednesday.

It was noted that provinces of Qinghai, Jilin, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have proposed building pilot Free Trade Zones (FTZs).

Wuhan Area of China (Hubei) pilot free trade zone, formally founded in 2017, is considering expansion to further promoting opening-up and strengthen system innovation.

According to the outline of the 14th five-year plan (2021-2025), the country would improve layout of the pilot FTZs, enhance functions of the key development and opening zones along the border, the border economic cooperation zones, the cross-border economic cooperation zones, support construction of inland open economic pilot zones in Ningxia, Guizhou, and Jiangxi.

In advancing wider openness, the pilot FTZs have been regarded as important carriers.

According to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), in 2020, 18 pilot free trade zones established before August 2020 saw a total of 393,000 new enterprises registered and the amount of the foreign investment in actual use stood at 176.38 billion yuan (about 27.11 billion U.S. dollars),

Accounting for 17.6 per cent of the country’s total foreign investment, these pilot FTZs recorded the total value of the imports and exports at 4.7 trillion yuan, accounting for 14.7 per cent of the country’s total imports and exports.

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Nigeria using FTZs to reduce high unemployment indices, quashing insecurity

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The Managing Director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, has said the Federal Government was committed to using the Free Trade Zone hub to reduce high unemployment.

Adesugba, made the remark when Alhaji Usman Bello Kankara, the District Head of Kerate, Kankara, Katsina State paid him a courtesy visit on Monday in Abuja.

He said such industrial hubs could gradually quash the widespread insecurity across the country.

“President Muhammed Buhari is quietly but diligently repositioning the country’s free trade zone scheme for it to contribute greatly to both our National Domestic Product and Gross Domestic Product respectively.

“The president is doing this with the revamping of decayed infrastructure in the two public zones in Kano and Calabar and by allowing for the establishment of news ones across the nation.

“We are set to visit Katsina State in a fortnight to flag-off the Funtua Free Trade Zone dedicated for the production of cottons and fabrics for local consumption and exportation.

“ This zone when operational, will leverage on the cotton belt of the North West to commence active production of varieties of fabrics in commercial quantities’’, the NEPZA boss said.

Adesugba explained that no part of the country would be exempted from habouring a type of zone, adding that many state governors were beginning to key into the zone business ecosystem to boost commerce, employment and revenues.

The NEPZA CEO, therefore, said the zone scheme was a wonderful business concept aimed at speeding up industrialisation, adding that industries operating in both the private and public zones were providing unimaginable number of dependable employments to job seekers.

“The Authority believes sincerely that the zone can be used to improve the economic situation we are in now.

In fact, if majority of our young people are gainfully engaged, the current security situation will improve dramatically.

We, therefore thank the president again for approving the Funtau free trade zone as this will go a long way to stabilize the state and its environs’’, Adesugba further said.

Kankara had expressed delight on Adesugba’s appointment as the managing director of NEPZA, describing him as a “square peg in square hole’’.

The Royal Father, also said the insecurity in the country could be hinged on the lack of sustainable employments for the young people, adding that NEPZA’s rebirth under Adesugba could speedily change the narrative.

“We are, therefore, eagerly waiting for the commissioning of the Funtua free trade zone. This wonderful business structure would no doubt boost commerce, production, employment, and income for our people’’, he said.