The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike and the Chairman of Daewoo Engineering and Construction, Jung Won Ju, on Thursday, held talks on the prospect of investing in the tourism sector by citing a five-star hotel in Abuja.
Jung was accompanied on the visit by the Managing Director, Daewoo E&C Nigeria, Taewon Jung, Executive Vice President, Daewoo Engineering and Construction, Seung Han, Country Chairman, Daewoo E and C, Chief Joseph Penawou and Executive Director (Technical) Daewoo E and C, Steve Ko.
He said the project would create thousands of jobs in Abuja in the same manner the company did in Vietnam.
He vowed to ensure that challenges between both countries were promptly addressed, and to expedite actions on the partnership
between Daewoo and the FCT.
“Even though there will be a lot of challenges for doing business between you and us, somehow, we are ready to overcome every challenge and our MD of Nigeria here, will fully support the procedure to be realised as soon as possible. We are willing to comply with your demands and your guidance,” Jung said.
In his remarks, Wike described the relationship between Republic of Korea and Nigeria as perfect.
He called for concrete discussion for immediate action on the project, stressing that his desire was to ensure the development of Abuja and to transform it to an attractive tourist destination.
He also promised to liaise with the Korean Ambassador to schedule a visit to the country while assuring Jung that there would be no impediments to the project.
He said the Tinubu administration had fostered an investment-friendly climate by taking steps to remove the bottlenecks to allow investors to come into the country.
“We are talking about FCT. One of the best things you can do is tourism. And in that case, the only 5-star hotel we can talk about here is Transcorp Hilton. So, there is no competition, nothing. Like I said, it is important that we discuss, and people know that something will come out of that discussion. For me as the FCT Minister, my interest is to develop Abuja, to make it more attractive as a tourist centre.
“So, if you say that ‘okay, we want to invest in tourism, we want to build a five-star hotel, what roles can you play’? We can say look, to assure you we are ready, we are not going to give you land to sell or whatever, we will give you land. What expanse of land do you need? And then we will ask you, how many years do you think you will be able to develop this five-star hotel? So, these are the things we like to do,” Wike said.
Olawale Ajimotokan
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