NPA, Customs renew collaboration to grow economy

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have renewed cooperation to boost exports and facilitate trade.The development came to the fore when the Managing Director/CEO of NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, visited the Acting Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adewale, in Abuja.

The meeting focused on enabling the ease of export processing, by eliminating all procedural bottlenecks that constitute delays and affect the competitiveness of Nigerian goods, especially agro-allied products at the international market.

In a statement, the Customs boss, while commending the NPA for creating Export Processing Terminals (EPTs), which have advanced the fortunes of exports, he hinted that the NCS was finalising measures at streamlining the multiplicity of its units and checkpoints, hastening evacuation of overtime cargo from the ports, speedy relocation of the facility standing on the rail link of Apapa ports and resolving all challenges to pave way for optimisation of the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal.

Given that balance of trade is crucial to the strengthening of the Naira, the renewed collaboration, the statement added, would boost efforts of the President Bola Tinubu administration to grow the national economy.