Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has said the just concluded 8th Annual London Political Summit would attract investors and development partners to the state.
He was fielding questions from reporters at the weekend at Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, after his return from a three-day political summit held at the House of Commons Westminster Palace.
He said he showcased the safe and lucrative economic opportunities the state was endowed with to the United Kingdom and the world at large.
“Every opportunity we have, marketing the state’s potential is what we are doing. Not just that we are looking for investors, we are also looking for development partners.
“This is what is important and we must understand that the monthly allocation alone cannot do all we want to do,” Eno said.
On the benefit of the summit to the state, he said the A.R.I.S.E. Agenda blueprint of his administration was tailored to meet the sustainable development goals and had positioned the state as a favourable development partner to international organisations, hence his participation in the summit.
“As we meet these sustainable development goals, there are development partners out there that want to hear your story, see what you are doing, and you build trust because the problem with Africa is the trust issue. So we go out there, meet these organisations, talk with them. They want to know what you can do differently from what others have done in the past. So we believe it was a successful meeting,” the governor said.
He attested to exploits in fields by ‘Akwa Ibomites’ abroad and the need to reassure them of the state government’s readiness to work with them, saying being at the event also availed him of the opportunity to interact with indigenes of the state in the diaspora and create openings for foreign direct investment as well as opportunities for exchange engagements in Health, Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence and ICT.
Read Also: Akwa Ibom APC governorship candidate expresses shock over tribunal’s verdict
“We also took the opportunity to meet with the Akwa Ibom indigenes in the diaspora. It is very important. A lot of them are professionals and always want to help in the development of the state and country. If you look at the foreign direct investment from the diaspora that came into the country in the previous years, you will find out that it was a large chunk and if we keep leaving our own people, we are losing parts of that large chunk,” Eno said.