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Abuja is safe – Jonathan assures participants attending World Economic Forum

By BusinessNews Staff on April 26, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reassured the global community of the safety of all participants in next month’s World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja.
The president spoke when he had an audience with China’s new Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie, who presented his letters of credence to him in Abuja.

According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan said the security challenges being experienced in some parts of the country would have no adverse effect on the safety of participants in the forum.

The president welcomed the confirmation by China that its delegation to the forum, which will bring together regional and global leaders to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments that could sustain the continent’s current growth trajectory and create jobs, will be led by Premier Li Keqiang.

“I am quite pleased that the Premier of the People’s Republic of China has confirmed that he is coming. We will be addressing the World Economic Forum on Africa together. We will also sit down together to discuss shared national interests.

“We will give all participants a good reception in Abuja. We have faced challenges in the area of security, but we will overcome the situation so that our economy can move forward faster. Participants will not have a problem with security during the summit,” Jonathan told the Chinese Ambassador.

The ambassador assured Jonathan of China’s confidence in Nigeria’s security measures and the country’s ability to host the World Economic Forum on Africa successfully.
“From our assessment, we are confident that all is under control and we have relayed that to our people,” Xiaojie said.

He applauded Nigeria’s re-basing of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the country’s emergence as the number one economy in Africa, noting that it would certainly stimulate the inflow of more foreign investors.

Also yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Jonathan received the letters of credence of the new Malaysian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Lim Juay and the new Ambassador of Thailand, Mr. Chailert Limsoboom.

He urged all three new ambassadors to do their best to further expand areas of bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and their respective countries.
The president, however, wished them successful and rewarding tenures in Nigeria.

[This Day]

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