NSE, Culture Ministry plans National Dialogue on tourism

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation is planning to hold a national dialogue on tourism as a business in Nigeria.

This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, during the visit of Chief Edem Duke, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, to the management of the Exchange.

According to Oscar, the dialogue which will hold next year is aimed at fashioning out ways of developing the tourism sector in Nigeria.

He noted that the tourism sector in Nigeria is developing and it needs to be supported by all and sundry, most especially, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE.

On how the sector can be improved upon, Oscar said, “If the government is doing it as a Public Private Partnership, PPP, and the private sector sees the investment opportunities, they will surely invest and seize the various opportunities that exists in the tourism sector”.

Speaking on the visit, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, disclosed that his mission on the Exchange is “to open a new page in the engagement of the private sector to look at the second largest economic sector globally and to raise the awareness that investors must begin to look beyond the traditional areas of investment and look into the new frontiers”.

He added that “today, across the globe, tourism has become an avenue to diversify nation’s economy, restoring hope, creating platform for national cohesion and putting jobs at the behest of our young men and women.

“It is time for us to put culture as enterprise on the front burner of national economic discourse”.

At the occasion, Chief Duke revealed that an approval has been given by President Goodluck Jonathan to make the moribund National Theatre a leisure, entertainment city and a duty free territory.

According to him, the initiative will be supervised by the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission
in a transparent manner.

This, he said, is to ensure that at the end of the day, government did not lose its assets and Nigerians did not lose their heritage.

One Comment

1. 

   j4p

   October 17, 2013 at 4:58 pm

   Rather clueless for NSE and Ministry of Culture to debase the meaning of ‘National Dialogue’ in efforts to run their enterprises. Couldnt they have done better?