Taraba State Governor, Arc Darius Dickson Ishaku has called for the establishment of an Export Processing Zone in Taraba State.
Ishaku made the call during a meeting with the management of the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority, NEPZA in Abuja on Thursday.
Gov Ishaku said the establishment of the zone would help the state in promoting economic development.
He said his administration was interested in promoting development in three critical areas such as agriculture, tourism and mining and requested NEPZA to assist the state to achieve these goals
The governor also restated commitment to ensure that youths in the state are gainfully engaged and that he was already laying a solid foundation that would facilitate the achievement of this objective.
Gov Ishaku said he was also improving the infrastructure in the state to support the envisaged dispensation of large scale exportation of goods from the estate.
Already, the Jalingo Airport is being expanded to accommodate bigger aircraft while roads are also being reconstructed to facilitate movement of goods in and out of the state.
Ishaku said it was obvious that the nation’s economy was under strains and said all political leaders must rise to the occasion by taking measures that could bring about improvements.
Also at the meeting, Prof Adesoji Adesugba, managing director of NEPZA, spoke of the willingness of the Authority to give Taraba all the necessary professional advice towards sustainable development of a productive economy anchored on export of agricultural produce
Prof Adesugba said from information at the disposal of the Authority, Taraba State has agricultural potentials that could feed the entire African markets, particularly, rice production. He assured that everything necessary would be done to ensure that Taraba State derives maximum economic benefits from its agricultural, tourism and mineral resources.
He said a special joint economic working committee would be set up by the Taraba State government and NEPZA to facilitate the collaboration between the two of them for better results.