‘NIMAREX 2015 to focus on trade, funding’

THE Planning Committee of the 2015 Nigerian Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) said at the weekend that the event would focus on trade promotion and on issues that would impact on industry operators.

Its Chairman, Ayorinde Adedoyin, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said though the event might not have recorded 100 per cent success since it was initiated, it had succeeded in drawing government’s attention to the possibilities inherent in the maritime industry.

“To the best of my knowledge, I think to some certain extent, NIMAREX has been an eye-opener to people in the industry.

“NIMAREX has been able to actually get the government attention to look at the possibilities in the maritime industry and also to educate the public on the possibilities.

“NIMAREX has done very well, but we can’t say is 100 per cent yet and that is why we are looking at other avenues.

“That’s why we are trying to concentrate more on trade than on policies and things like that.

“We are trying to make sure that we refocus on things that will impact on the industry people very well in this 2015 NIMAREX.,” he said.

Adedoyin, however, said that issues of finance and proliferation of industry regulators were posing a challenge to the development of the maritime sector.

“The thing about this industry is that when you have so many regulators, is always very difficult to put everybody together or all the organisations together to actually make them understand what the problems are.

“The major problem we have is funding. Even when you tell people to go and get contract, when they get the contract, they will need equipment to do the contract and to get the equipment, you will need money.

“And that is why I said this year, NIMAREX is going to focus more on trade, in the sense that we are looking at the possibility of getting people with funds to meet with people who need the funds.

“We are trying to get people who have equipment to meet with people who need the equipment,” he added.