NIGERIA HOPES NAJIB WILL MAKE HISTORICAL VISIT TO BOOST TRADE AND TIES

By R.Ravichandran

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 (Bernama) -- Nigeria's High Commissioner to
Malaysia
Peter J.E Anegbeh said Nigeria is looking forward to the first visit by a
Malaysian prime minister and hopes that Najib Tun Razak will fulfil
this wish.

He said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1965, no sitting
prime minister from Malaysia had ever visited Nigeria, Africa's most populous
country, which is also known as the "Land of Opportunities" for its huge
economic potential.

Anegbeh said Najib's predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was supposed to
visit the country in 2007 but it did not materialise as the oil-rich West
African country was facing a presidential election then.

He is confident that a visit by Najib would open a new era of cooperation in
many areas, especially trade, economy and investment, thus bringing Abuja-Kuala
Lumpur bilateral relations to greater heights.

"Our (then) president Olusegun Obasanjo visited Malaysia in 2007...so a
visit from the Malaysian prime minister will show that our relations are strong
and moving forward," he told Bernama in an interview at his office here.


Describing bilateral ties as "cordial", Anegbeh said both nations would reap
great benefit through a very high-level visit from Malaysia -- as such a visit
would encourages more Malaysian businessmen and the private sector to tap the
huge trade and investment potential in Nigeria, Africa's largest market with
some 150 million people.

He said that despite both countries sharing many similarities and enjoying
good political relations since independence, Malaysia's presence, through trade
and investment in Nigeria was not felt, compared with China, Japan or South
Korea.

Currently, two-way trade favours Malaysia, with the main exports largely
confined to electronic and electrical products.

"Today there is a lot of movement from Malaysians, especially individuals,
to Nigeria. I guess opportunities were not used in the past but it is high time
to make use of opportunities available in my country," he said.

He said there was interest from businessmen in Nigeria to import
Malaysia-made cars and if Najib's visit materialised, it would help Malaysia to
penetrate the automotive market and further strengthen existing ties in other
areas.

"Today, China-made products are everywhere in Nigeria...new Japanese and
South Korean cars and other vehicles are on our roads...so I don't see anything
stopping Malaysia from trying to enter and tap Nigeria's huge market."

Known as the "Giant of Africa", Nigeria is one of the fastest growing
economies in the world and has been listed as one of the countries having good
potential to emerge as the world’s largest economies in the 21st century.

Anegbeh also said that if Najib decided to visit Nigeria, it would enhance
or open up cooperation in other areas of mutual benefit such as politics, social
development, tourism, culture, sports, science and technology.

He highlighted that over 5,000 Nigerians were currently in institutions of
higher learning in Malaysia.

"We see Najib as a far-sighted leader who knows how to bring Malaysia to
other parts of world and vice-versa and he has also liberalised various
sub-sectors of Malaysia's economy. We hope and are looking forward to seeing him
soon in Nigeria."

-- BERNAMA