Obaseki threw the challenge in commemoration of the International Day of Family Remittances, marked on June 17, each year.
While lauding the members of the Diaspora community for the difference they are making in the lives of their families back home through foreign remittances running into billions of naira each year, the governor said the Edo State economy was ripe and ready for grab.
“We have successfully changed the narrative about Edo State being a civil service state. We have eliminated encumbrances in land procurement and use, and have created a team that is saddled with the promotion of investment in the state, and are ready to guide potential investors on the opportunities that abound in the state,” he said.
According to Obaseki, “Edo ranks high in several reports on the ease of doing business in Nigeria and the economic outlook is being improved upon with the mandates to the new Edo Geographic Information Service Agency, the revamped Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA), the Ministry of Physical Planning & Urban Development and the Private Property Protection Law, which have sanitised land administration in the state.
“The 1800 Emotan Gardens project has been flagged off by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and structures have been put in place by EDPA to ensure seamless payment plan for the various housing units.
“We have created several business corridors linking the Benin Industrial Park (BIP) to the Benin Seaport and another corridor linking the cement factories in Edo North and their allied companies, through Edo Central to the ongoing Benin Seaport in Gelegele.”
He explained that “Another corridor links the Benin Industrial Park to the industrial cluster in Utesi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area to the 1800 housing units Emotan Gardens, with boundless business opportunities on all the corridors, for all Edo people, home and abroad and residents in the state.
He further said that his administration has made remarkable progress in opening up the health, education and agricultural sectors for private sector participation.
The United Nations said the celebration of the International Day of Family Remittances is “aimed at recognizing the significant financial contribution migrant workers make to the wellbeing of their families back home and to the development of their countries of origin.”
The global body notes that “It is also aimed at encouraging the public and private sectors, as well as the civil society, to do more together and collaborate to maximize the impact of these funds in the developing world.
“The IDFR was unanimously proclaimed by all 176 member states of IFAD’s Governing Council at its 38th session in February 2015, and adopted by the UN General Assembly in June 2018 (draft A/72/L.56).
“Proclaiming an International Day of Family Remittances represents an invaluable opportunity not only to recognize the efforts of migrant workers globally, but also to strengthen current partnerships and create new synergies among sectors to promote the development impact of remittances worldwide.
“The first IDFR was celebrated on 16 June 2015 by more than 400 policy-makers, private sector representatives and civil society leaders at the opening of the Fifth Global Forum on Remittances and Development in Milan.
“In 2016 over eighty money transfer operators endorsed the IDFR and committed to take concrete action to ensure that family remittances count for even more. Read their statements.
“In 2017 and 2018 the Day received an unprecedented support from the private sector, with over 100 Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) through IAMTN, 800 mobile companies through GSMA, 6,000 savings banks across 80 countries through WSBI, and several individual private sector entities. The Day was also supported by the 22 UN organizations within the Global Migration Group (GMG), individually by IOM and by several member states.”
