By Andy Esiet, Calabar
As part of strategies to rebuild Cross River state, Senator Gershom Bassey representing Cross River South in the Senate has unveiled a 10 point Economic restoration and development blueprint .
This blueprint which is hinged on the mantra, “re-imagine, revive and restore” the state and it’s economy, will be anchored and driven by Senator Bassey and his special economic strategic team if voted into office as governor of the state come 2023.
Senator Bassey who is busy traversing the state consulting party stalwarts and chieftains over his governorship aspiration in statement made available to some newsmen in Calabar on Monday said, “we must revive and build our economy” .
He said the 10 point blueprint or agenda include, “increase the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through value added economic activity in agriculture, tourism and the extractive, manufacturing and services industries.
“Grow the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through a well-structured and consolidated system to boost state revenue.
“Develop effective human capital development interventions and business friendly incentives to attract investment and business activity.
“Create opportunities for the youth and unemployed to grow an economic acquire in-demand and high value that would adequately equip them to compete in the global market and gig economy, boosting the State GDP through foreign exchange earnings “.
Others include, ” target the creation of skilled and unskilled jobs per annum. Design a transparent procurement process for awarding state government contracts, that adopts international best practices and implements affirmative action for indegenous contractors.
“Design indigene-6 centred policies to foster economic growth across the local agriculture and manufacturing value- chains. Secure the provision of financial and technical support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and startups within the state.
“Invest in professional training and in-demand skills acquisition programmes and collaborate with Federal Government to ensure the Calabar Port is re-opened for economic activity”.
