[PRESS
RELEASES]
Minister Commends Dunlop Nigeria Plc
The Honourable
Minister of Commerce and Industry, Engineer Charles Ugwuh (OON)
has commended efforts of Dunlop Nigeria Plc in sustaining
high quality of its tyres, despite the challenges in the
operating environment.
Ugwuh gave this commendation during a
fact – finding visit to Dunlop’s head office in Lagos
recently. He noted that the Company’s commitment to sourcing
of local raw materials inputs (Natural Rubber from its
subsidiary, Pamol Nigeria Limited) is a commendable
strategic decision in the right direction.
According to the Minister, “my visit is to look for
solutions, consult with you, to talk to you about some
initiatives being contemplated. I believe in consulting with
you as stakeholders and my colleagues in the manufacturing
sector”. He observed that the visit is also to re – assure
local manufacturers of government’s favorable disposition
towards supporting the Manufacturing Sector.
In his welcome address, Dunlop’s Group Managing Director,
Mohammed Yinusa, noted that Dunlop Group in Nigeria has
remained truly Nigerian with a steadfast belief in the
Nigerian economy. He observed that currently the Group has
over 3,000 Nigerian employees, with only three expatriates,
working in advisory capacity. He also noted that its
subsidiary Company, Pamol, recently acquired additional
5,000 hectares of land from Cross Rivers State as part of
the Group’s overall expansion programme through continuing
backward integration.
Yinusa stated that, “We are doing all
these because we believe there is a future for our country
and therefore a future for us”. He applauded the Federal
Government’s efforts in encouraging local manufacturers, but
noted that these efforts are being undermined by
infrastructural deficiency, especially energy (electricity
and recently, gas outages) and import duty regimes
inconsistent tax regimes which combine to place local
manufacturers at significant disadvantage. He therefore
appealed to the Federal Government to give adequate
incentives to local manufacturers to compensate them for
this obvious disadvantage and also give them the opportunity
to compete favorably in the market-place which has become a
global village.
The Minister’s delegation which had the Director-General of
the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr. John Akanya,
and officials from Commerce and Industry Ministry, had an
interactive session after an elaborate tour of the Company’s
facilities.
Abiona
Babarinde 10th
December, 2007
Public
Relations Manager
0805-332-0910
