by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
The Executive Governor of Plateau State, Barr Caleb Mutfwang, has set up a Council on Ease of Doing Business towards addressing all bottlenecks that are inimical to ease of doing business in Plateau State.
Inaugurating the Council on Thursday at the New Government House, Little Rayfield Jos, the governor explained that the move would help to eliminate the obstacles residents and investors encounter in their efforts to set up and grow their businesses on the Plateau.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Josephine Piyo, he said his administration is introducing new measures and initiatives to promote the ease of doing business, attract more genuine investors and foreign direct investments into the state.
He noted that, fostering a conducive business environment is paramount to economic growth and development, adding, “It is our collective responsibility to ensure that businesses thrive and flourish, leading to increase in job opportunities and a higher quality of life for our citizens.
“Plateau is blessed with abundant resources and untapped potentials; we have a strong foundation to build upon by working together to unlock our true potentials.
“Small and medium businesses is the backbone of our country. Businesses benefit the community by creating job growth and providing locals with job opportunities, an overall positive in terms of a healthy economy and a happy society.
“It is important that our state needs circulating businesses to compellingly revolutionize value added initiatives to bring up the state positively,” he stated.
Gov Mutfwang gave assurances of his administration’s commitment to implement reforms that would improve the ease of doing business, streamline regulatory processes, enhance transparency in governance and create an environment where entrepreneurship and innovation can thrive.
Secretary to the Government of the State, Arc Samuel Jatau, in an address stated that the Council is saddled with the responsibility of establishing linkages with the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council and ensure Plateau State benefits maximally from the implementation of Federal interventions on business environment reforms.
Arch Jatau added that, the council would also assess business enabling environment of the state and suggest suitable reforms through coordinating and supervising the implementation of business, support the implementation of all programmes in line with available framework and guidelines, among others.
A facilitator, Mr Akinrapo Omonware, stated that Plateau had the capacity to rank “No.1” in attracting foreign investors into the state, as it had all it takes to be an investment hub.
Omonware maintained that, “There is the need to industrialize Plateau and turn its huge potential to reality by creating jobs through the MSME sector.” He urged the State Government to continue to retain the businesses in the state, attract new investors both local and international, remain competitive among states and enhance the ranking of the state in the country.