President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Riyadh accepted an invitation
\nfrom the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for the establishment
\nof Nigeria- Saudi Council aimed at promoting investments and enhancing
\nrelations between both countries.<\/p>\n
The decision was the high point of a bilateral meeting between the
\nNigerian leader and the Crown Prince which took place on the margins of
\nthe Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference.<\/p>\n
The meeting was initially scheduled to hold in the office of the Crown
\nPrince but out of courtesy and respect for the Nigerian leader, Prince
\nSalman insisted that he would meet with President Buhari in his hotel
\nroom at The Ritz Carlton, Riyadh.<\/p>\n
The Council will be made up of government officials and business leaders
\nfrom both countries and the areas of focus are: economic growth and
\ndevelopment, investments in oil and non-oil sectors, and security
\ncooperation.<\/p>\n
President Buhari and the Crown Prince agreed that the first assignment
\nfor the Council is to establish a legal and operational framework that
\nwill facilitate investments beneficial to both countries.<\/p>\n
The Council will be established in the next two months while meetings
\nwill be held twice every year.<\/p>\n
To ensure that relations between both countries remain active, it was
\nalso agreed that leaders of both countries, at the highest level, will
\nmeet at least once every year to review the progress of the joint
\ncouncil and ensure closer collaboration on issues of mutual interest.<\/p>\n
President Buhari thanked the Crown Prince for the Kingdom’s interest in
\ninvesting in Nigeria and the initiative to establish the Council which
\nwould form the foundation for a stronger Nigeria-Saudi relationship.<\/p>\n
”Nigeria has a large population mainly made up of\u00a0 dynamic, young
\npeople and partnerships of this type will help them to be productive and
\nprosperous,” the President said, assuring that his government will
\ncontinue to provide the enabling environment for businesses to thrive in
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Speaking on regional and international issues, President Buhari shared
\nthe view of the Crown Prince that with the collapse of ISIS in Iraq and
\nSyria, the next frontier for terrorism is the Sahel region.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian leader commended the concern by the Saudi authorities to
\nkeep the issue of the security situation in Sahel region on the front
\nburner.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Saudi Crown Prince had noted that the security challenges
\nin the Sahel should be seen as a global issue.<\/p>\n
”Saudi Arabia is prepared to participate in the engagement and
\nsensitisation of the whole world to the problems in sub-Saharan
\nAfrica,” he said.<\/p>\n
On bilateral issues, the Crown Prince reiterated the preparedness of the
\nKingdom to support Nigeria’s development agenda, noting that the country
\nhad the potential to be among the top 20 economies in the world.<\/p>\n
”Saudi Arabia is eager to support Nigeria and we want to be a part of
\nNigeria’s journey to be among the top 20 economies in the world,” he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the President the Saudis have invested
\n40 billion U.S. dollars in India, 10 billion dollars in Pakistan and 20
\nbillion dollars in Indonesia and are willing to do the same in Nigeria
\ngiven the favourable business environment.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian President re-emphasized that enabling a conducive business
\nenvironment will remain a priority for his administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Riyadh accepted an invitation from the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for the establishment of Nigeria- Saudi Council aimed at promoting investments and enhancing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n