The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday declared the 2022 Lagos International Trade Fair closed, assuring investors of improved business environment in Lagos.
The 36th Edition of the 10- day event, held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, had as its theme: “Connecting Businesses, Creating Value.”
About 3,500 exhibitors participated in the fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
Sherifat Folashade Jaji, the state government’s secretary, who spoke on behalf of Sanwo-Olu, assured the business community that his administration was committed to enhancing the business climate to make it more inviting for investment.
The governor also observed that there was a need for purposeful and meaningful involvement with important stakeholders, in order to better comprehend the benefits of networking in business.
Sanwo-Olu said: “This can form a basis for continuous assessment of the benefits and development of strategic roadmap towards its long term implementation, while drawing on the strength of E-Commerce or digital marketing.
“These will help to reduce overhead cost, increase profit and create more wealth among other benefits.
“Without any doubt, the challenge of benchmarking the State against global best practices, making it a model for others to follow and growing it to become a befitting smart city that is comparable to any of its kind is a very herculean task. Yet, it is achievable.”
To this end, the governor said the administration has done a lot to improve the business environment through the implementation business friendly policies to improve the ease of doing business in the state, incentives and our unrelenting commitment to infrastructural development and renewal.
Also, Mrs Lola Akande, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, said the government would continue to work with LCCI for the success and sustenance of the annual event.
Akande said the government’s participation in the fair was one of the many ways it was promoting and supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs) in the state.
“For instance, with the efforts of the State Government, technology entrepreneurs have come to know that Lagos State is one of the most improved environments to do business. This is not only an attribution to its large market size and dynamic labour force, but an acknowledgement of its regulatory and civic friendliness to technological development. More than other places in the Federation, Lagos has experienced tremendous share of growth in terms of tech start-ups.”
According to Akande, the government is making great progress to foster the growth of entrepreneurship and economic success.
Michael Olawale-Cole, president of the chamber, thanked stakeholders and attendees for their cooperation and support during the 10-day expo as well as for maintaining peace.
He praised the participants’ resiliency and optimism and said it was heartwarming that they had rewarding business interactions.
“It is our hope that government at all levels would continue to address the issues of enabling environment in the country, especially as regards infrastructure, insecurity, right policies to fix the key drivers of inflation.
“We need to do this to fully harness the huge enterprising resources of domestic and foreign investors for the diversification of our economy and welfare of our people.”
