19/01/2015 (Daily Sun) - The Federal Government, in a bid to salvage the economy from total col­lapse, has marked out 13 National Strategic Export Products (NSEP) to com­plement the petroleum products, which prices have continued to tumble on the in­ternational markets.

Minister of Trade and Investments, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, noted that this was part of the moves by the government towards reviv­ing the dwindling national economy with em­phasis on rapid growth of the non-oil sector for exports.

Aganga, during an inspection and a meeting with the Executive Director of Nigerian Ex­ports Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Oluse­gun Awolowo, and members of the manage­ment team in Abuja listed the 13 NSEP in three categories to include agro-industrial palm oil, cocoa, cashew, sugar and rice; mining-related cement, iron ore/metals, auto parts/cars, aluminium and oil and gas; industrial products – petroleum products, fertilcement, iron ore/metals, auto izer/urea, petrochemical and methanol. ­

He stated that originally 12 products were identified, but that the number got increased because the Executive Direc­tor of NEPC made a strong case for the inclusion of ca­shew in the list.

Aganga, however, charged NEPC to deploy its capacity for kick-starting the diversifi­cation of the country’s econ­omy in line with the govern­ment’s agenda.

Aganga said he chose NEPC and SMEDAN for his first visit in the new year because of their potential and  strategic importance for diver­sification of the economy, job creation, poverty alleviation and inclusive growth.

The strategy to be deployed in that regard, according to him, requires that NEPC iden­tifies products that are being imported by countries from other exporting nations and to develop the products with sound logistics built around them.

The essence, the Minister stressed, is to deliver them cheaper to neighbouring coun­tries, being an export oriented investment strategy.

He said, “in doing this, we must recognise our neigh­bours’ developmental needs, support them and collaborate with them in areas of their comparative advantage.”

He added: “For you to have sustainable relationship, there must be symbiotic in relation­ship.

“The new strategic focus is not just agriculture but rather commodities-based industri­alisation. This will help our economy to diversify quickly and become sustainable. Such strategy will help build an in­dustrial sector that can diver­sify our economy in just few years.”

The Executive Director, NEPC, Awolowo, said that NEPC under his leadership had long recognised the need to develop the non-oil export sub-sector and had in the pro­cess held series of strategic meetings with stakeholders for the development of ideas aimed at improving the foreign exchange earnings by Nigeria through different avenues.