As part of new moves to diversify the economy vide creation of jobs, the Katsina State Government has pledged to offer needed support to the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to ensure the growth of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the state.
At a sensitisation workshop in Katsina tagged “Standards Promote Business Growth and Sustainability” the Katsina State governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, underscored the critical place and role of MSMEs in the nation’s march to a non-oil economy, diversification and export drive.
The Katsina State Government has stated its readiness to collaborate with the SON to ensure the production and circulation of standard and quality local products in the state and the country at large.
It declared that strict adherence and compliance to standards remain the backbone in the quest for a sustainable non-oil economy which the present administration has been propagating. Speaking during a sensitisation programme for MSMEs in the state, Masari maintained that sustainable economic development is matched with a standard and quality control regime. He commended the SON management for putting in place quality conformity benchmarks which would help the nation attain economic diversification.
He said “The decision of the SON management to embark on this sensitisation programme is indeed coming at the right time when the federal government is promoting self sufficiency through adequate utilisation of agriculture and non-oil resources for economic sustenance.
“Standards and agriculture are therefore veritable tools for achieving the goals of government to meet the needs of our citizens and promote our economy. The major advantage some foreign products have over made-in-Nigeria goods is simply compliance to standards. The state government, in collaboration with the SON, will not relent in its efforts to strategise and promote made-in-Nigeria goods and that is why we take the sensitisation programme serious,” Masari said.
According to him, the state government, courtesy of its Restoration Agenda on Agriculture and Industrialisation, is totally committed to ensuring the creation of enabling environment for investments, citing the recently held ‘Katsina State Economic and Investment Summit’ as a clear demonstration of the commitment. The state government is ready to synergise with the SON to ensure that goods produced in the state meet the required standards for local consumption and exports. Katsina has been noted for driving SMEs in the northern region for years.
