LASG to enhance conducive environment, EoDB for businesses

The Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment (MCCTI), Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, has said that the state government, through the Ministry, is doubling efforts to support businesses by fostering a conducive environment and enhancing the ease of doing business in the state, in order to navigate the economic challenges being experienced presently.

Speaking at the celebration of “Lagos State Day” and closing ceremony of the 2023 Lagos International Trade Fair (LITF) held at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, yesterday, she said the ministry is actively sustaining engagement with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and other stakeholders to actualise these goals.

Applauding the organisers of this Trade Fair, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), for successfully hosting an intense business exposition, she added that the theme for this year, “Navigating Economic Challenges: Forging a Path to Prosperity,” is very timely and pertinent, considering what small businesses are experiencing now.

“We live in an age of unprecedented challenges, compounded by global economic shocks. It is a time that tasks our will power and demands that we all put on our thinking caps to survive. Businesses must adapt to economic variables for survival and prosperity, while building an internal mechanism to face economic challenges. At the crux of this, is the unrelenting commitment to combine factors of production to create marketable value that can be converted to wealth,” she stated.

She revealed that Lagos currently contributes 25 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) account for eighty per cent of the state’s total employment, underscoring their pivotal role in job creation and economic development.

Speaking, LCCI President, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, urged all levels of government to support businesses and encourage ease of doing business by focusing on infrastructure, insecurity and the implementation of appropriate policies to address the primary causes of sub-optimality in monetary policy performance.

“We need to do these in order to fully harness the huge enterprising resources of domestic and foreign investors for the diversification of our economy and the welfare of our people. The OPS shall stand solidly behind the state in its quest to actualise its recently launched development plan,” he said.