Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration is planning to revive the alleged abandoned free trade zone project, the Director-General, Oyo State Investment and Public-Private Partnership Agency, Mr Segun Ogunwuyi has said.
Ogunwuyi, while speaking with journalists over the weekend, said Governor Seyi Makinde was sincere about setting up the free trade zone and would work towards its actualisation.
He said the immediate past administration only paid lip service to the establishment of free trade zone on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“Previous government paid lip service to free trade zone. We, as a government, are not interested in just talking about something but we are interested in people seeing it on the ground.
“Currently we are working on bringing back free trade zone into life. Free trade zone is the next best thing after crude oil for any state and we are going to see that happen,” Ogunwuyi said.
He said all efforts of the Makinde government, in the next one year, will be geared towards the expansion of the state economy to attract businesses and investments.
To this end, Ogunwuyi added that the state was working to see the actualisation of the Ibadan Inland Dry port in Akinyele local government.
The former Governor Abiola Ajimobi government had in May 2017 flagged off the establishment of Pacesetter-Polaris free trade zone, targeted at being a hub of commerce, but the project didn’t see the light of the day till the administration expired.
