*To hold bilateral talks with President Biden, meet with CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Meta, General Electric
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu will tomorrow depart Abuja for New York, the United States, to attend the 78th edition of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Briefing newsmen on the President’s itinerary ahead of the trip at the State House, Abuja yesterday, presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, said President Tinubu is set to attend UNGA with a focus on strengthening Nigeria’s economic ties.
According to him, the President plans to meet with CEOs of major multinationals, including Microsoft’s Brad Smith, Meta’s Nick Clegg, General Electric’s CEO, and Exxon Mobil’s CEO to discuss digital transformation, innovation, energy, and petroleum sector opportunities.
He added that the President will also participate in various summits, including those on Sustainable Development Goals and climate ambition, as well as bilateral meetings with world leaders – US President Joe Biden and counterparts from Spain, Netherlands, South Africa, Brazil, Comoros and Algeria.
He said: “President Bola Tinubu is going to continue advancing very aggressively on his economic development, diplomatic drive, to aggressively attract foreign direct investment into the country. So, with that, I would like to inform you that Mr. President will be having the following meetings with major chief executives and leaders of multinational firms cutting across multiple sectors of the economy.
“The President will be meeting with the President of the Microsoft company worldwide, Brad Smith, with respect to how we can deepen digital transformation in the country, and how we can expand the digital economic footprint in the country to ensure that our micro and small enterprises will have access to the internet and have access to other smart technologies that will facilitate their ability to transact business quickly and efficiently.
“Mr. President will also be meeting with Sir Nick Clegg who is the president of Global Affairs for Meta Technologies, which is expected to be a wide-ranging conversation with respect to how we can leverage on new innovations such as artificial intelligence and certain other applications to impact the way we do business in Nigeria.
“Mr. President, will also be meeting with the global CEO of General Electric. Of course, General Electric is a very well-known international organisation that cuts across multiple sectors, they have very deep involvement in the energy sector, electric power generation, aviation, you know, engine production for multiple modes of transportation, amongst many other inputs. So, we expect that to be a very important interaction.
“Furthermore, Mr. President will be meeting with the global CEO of Exxon Mobil Oil and Gas Company. We see this as a major opportunity to once again lay out in detail what Nigeria has on offer with respect to the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act and the fiscal and tax incentives that are being put forward by President Bola Tinubu to further advance investment in the oil and gas sector, not just in terms of oil, but more in terms of gas.
“The President will also be presiding over an event, that is the Nigeria Small and Medium Scale Business Summit. And this is really a very strategic one. The President is determined to ensure that we don’t just look at large industry, that we key in on opportunities that are being presented by Nigerian-owned small and medium scale enterprises, putting our own MSMEs in a position to make an impact in foreign markets.
“In addition to that, the President will be speaking at the UN High Level reform of the global financial architecture. This is a sequel to the engagement Mr. President had in Paris. It will essentially allow our president to lay out his vision for a fairer international financial system that does not any longer leave out developing countries from the decision-making table.
“He’s very determined to drive this and he’s leading it from the front and that’s a very important engagement on his schedule. Aside from that, there will be two major summits at the UN. Aside from, of course, general debate at the General Assembly, which is one the UN 2023 summit on SDGs (the sustainable development goals) at which Mr. President will be very actively participating.
“The last point I want to make is on His Excellency Mr. President’s schedule of bilateral meetings. The President, again, focusing on his economic development diplomacy, will be having investment at the front and center of his conversations with his counterparts around the world.
“And these engagements include bilateral meetings on the sidelines, with the President of the United States, with the President of Comoros, with the president of South Africa, with the President of the European Union Commission, with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, with the King of Jordan, with the Algerian President, with the Brazilian president and with the Spanish Prime Minister.”
