NEPC, RMRDC Partner On Product Dev For Export

Traders displaying snails for sale at Oyingbo Market in Lagos last Wednesday.

The task of diversifying the
nation’s economy from dependence on oil to non-oil got a boost recently as the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, (NEPC) and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) once more agreed to synergise their activities toward developing new products for export.
The sister organisations stressed this during a courtesy visit by the Executive Director (CEO of NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo to the Director-General of RMRDC, Dr. Hussein Ibrahim in Abuja recently.
In a statement which was obtained by our correspondent from the Port Harcourt Zonal office of NEPC, Awolowo was of the view that RMRDC was key to the growth of the Nigerian economy given its resourcefulness in terms of agricultural researches conducted to enrich its data base and other complementary roles, towards the development and promotion of non-oil export.
“We need to collaborate with your agency to ensure the discovery of new products especially in the agric sector that could be exported with a view to increasing our revenue and diversifying from dependency on oil to non-oil,” he added.
Linking it to the existing National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), Awolowo posited in the statement that there was need for both agencies to continuously advocate for speedy implementation of the plan to ensure that Nigeria gets on the list of top 20 economies by year 2020.
He disclosed  that NEPC was also collaborating with the RMRDC towards the hosting of the 2nd International Symposium of Mycotoxin in nuts and dried fruits scheduled to hold in Abuja from September, 8 to 12 2015.
Responding, Dr. Ibrahim said RMRDC was closely working with Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to establish a committee on Gum Arabic given the challenges of fluctuating fortunes of the product in the international market due to stiff competition from major exporters.
He summed that RMRDC was willing to partner NEPC to ensure that Nigeria meets the requisite standards for export by its exporters, hence the collaboration with SON.