Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has delivered the keynote address at the Dubai 9th edition of the Annual Investment Meeting.
Buhari, who is in Dubai, on the invitation of His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, is participating as the guest of honour at this year’s meeting.
The report by the Nigerian Television Authority on Monday said that President Buhari’s keynote address was on the theme of the Meeting: “Mapping the Future of Foreign Direct Investment: Enriching World Economies through Digital Globalization”.
It added that after his keynote address, he took a tour of the Exhibition Stands at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the venue of annual meeting.
Before leaving for the UAE on the second leg of his Middle East visit, Buhari attended the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan, where he noted that in this digital age physical borders no longer exist to protect even the most secured nations and that the only way to overcome predatory and divisionary forces is for all well-meaning nations to work together for the greater good of mankind.
“Simply put, cooperation amongst sovereign nations is no longer a choice. It is an absolute necessity,” he said.
He noted that in the last 10 years, the world has seen and experienced significant shifts on many fronts. In Technology; Population and Migration; Trade and Geopolitics; Climate change; and many more.
“For some nations, these trends have had positive impacts. But of course, we have also seen the negative and destructive outcomes of these trends in other countries.
“It is my view, that no region of the world has felt the full impact of these dramatic shifts and shocks like the Middle East and Africa – North and Sub-Sahara.
“On one hand, our region is blessed with a very young, vibrant, enterprising and dynamic population. We also have valuable natural resources that are the envy of many nations.
“These assets and endowments contributed to our region experiencing some of the highest economic growth rates in the world,” he said.
According to him, these regions have also been hosts to some of the deadliest conflicts in recent history.
He told his audience that the deaths, damage and destruction caused by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram over the last 10 years would take decades to repair.
Buhari also spoke on the vast investment opportunities in Nigeria and x-rayed the Boko Haram rebellion in the North East of Nigeria as a manifestation of lack of economic and social inclusion.
He also said that his administration was determined to industrialise Nigeria, leveraging on the nation’s comparative advantage and recognising the private sector as the agent of growth.
The report added that Buhari described the Middle East as a natural partner in the development agenda and urged African and the Middle East countries to focus on policies that would deliver shared economic prosperity for their citizens.
GIK/APA