ADDRESS OF THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF PLATEAU STATE RT. HON. SIMON BAKO LALONG ON FLAG-OFF OF SIMON LALONG EMPOWERMENT SCHEME (SLEMS) ACROSS SENATORIAL ZONES ORGANIZED BY APURIMAC ONLUS AT DADIN KOWA YOUTH CENTRE, JOS PLATEAU STATE.

REPRESENTED BY

HAGGAI H. GUTAP (DIRECTOR GENERAL PLATEAU STATE MICROFINANCE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY)

I feel delighted to be part of this history making event on the Plateau today. Today is indeed a special day for the people of Plateau State in the march of providing our youths and women with skills and adequate capacity to contribute to sustainable development.

Public Private Partnership is key to the development and growth of every economy specifically because it promotes efficiency and leads to reduction in cost of doing business. My administration is committed to the development of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises through cutting edge interventions such as: skills development, capacity building on entrepreneurship, Promotion of access to micro credit and promotion of enabling environment to strive.

Ladies and Gentlemen, considering the present condition, the global and the Nigerian economy is passing through, the need for economic diversification can not be over emphasized and over the years, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have proven to be the engines of economic growth and wholesome contributors to employment generation, wealth creation and poverty reduction a fundamental goal of our administration is revamping the productive and service sectors of the Plateau Economy with the view of creating mass job opportunities and reducing poverty across the state.

Meaningful development can only be achieved in the state when the MSMEs are committed to best operational practices. Over 70% percent of our economy is controlled by the informal sector. This is the main reason why we are focusing on mainstreaming the informal sector of the economy by strengthening the real sectors.

I wish to specifically commend the Management of APURIMAC ONLUS for organizing this program which is timely because this is what I considered critical for national growth and development and assured you of our commitment to continuously partner with private institutions to move our dear state to the next level of development.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to urge all the trainees to dedicate themselves to this training and exhibit high sense of discipline throughout the period of the training.

I thank you all for your attention and I have the singular honor to flag-off the Simon Lalong Empowerment Scheme for the three senatorial zones of Plateau State.

Thank you and God bless you.

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