Category: Business and Economy

Coca-Cola has been ranked as the fourth most admired brand in Africa’s Best 100 Brands Awards.

Head of Communications, Southern and East Africa Camilla Osborne, made the disclosure on Monday.

Osborne said that Coca-Cola was the only food and beverage brand ranked in the top five most admired brands in Africa, based on the opinions spontaneously recalled by consumers.

She said that the brand was also named category leader for non-alcoholic beverages, ahead of Pepsi Cola and Fanta.

“In total, three of the company’s brands appeared in the top 100 brands across the continent – Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite.

“A large part of building brands that people love, is following our values and working towards solutions that benefit everyone.

“To help solve many of the world’s challenges, we apply a few foundational principles to make measurable, meaningful differences,” Osborne said in a statement.

She noted that Coca-Cola Company has over 30 established brands in its portfolio in Africa and is evolving its business to become a total beverage company, offering a diverse and growing portfolio of beverage choices across Africa.

“The Coca-Cola Company brings together people, brands and beverages to make life’s everyday moments more enjoyable, while doing business the right way, not just the easy way.

“The result is shared opportunity for our communities and stakeholders while building a Total Beverage Company with local roots in each of the markets we operate in,” she said.

Osborne said that the company through innovative thinking, collaboration and doing business the right way unlock growth, build strong brands and create shared opportunities across the continent.

Day Break reports that Brand Africa 100 ranking is based on a survey among consumers 18 years and older, conducted across 23 countries across Africa.

It covers all African economic regions and collectively account for 80 per cent of the population and GDP of Africa.

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories.

It is constantly transforming its portfolio, from reducing sugar in its drinks to bringing innovative new products to market and also working to reduce its environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting recycling.

With its bottling partners, Coca-Cola employ more than 700,000 people, and helps to bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide.

By Zhu Juan from People’s Daily

China’s rural areas enjoy great market potential as the country has put more emphasis on the development of rural areas.

Chen Lixian, head of a poverty alleviation service station in Fengqiao village of Lu’an city, east China’s Anhui province, is a beneficiary of e-commerce.

“I can sell about 70,000 yuan worth of local specialty products for villagers in one year,” Chen said as she was uploading information of bean vermicelli, eggs, dried noodles and other products sent by villagers on an e-commerce platform.

Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, online retail sales across China’s rural areas reached 357 billion yuan, up 19.5 percent year on year, 4.2 percentage points higher than the national growth rate.

Short-distance trips to villages for idyllic beauty have become an important option for urban residents during holidays, according to the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

During the Labor Day holiday this year, Qianyang village in Dezhou, east China’s Shandong province became a popular destination for visitors from urban areas due to its picturesque scenery and delicious food. For urban people, the colorful slideways, beautiful flowers and sites filled with farm implements are very attractive.

E-commerce and tourism in rural areas have thrived. As China increases policy support to strengthen agriculture, benefit farmers, and enrich rural areas, the pace of urban-rural integration has been accelerated, and consumption potential in rural areas has been further released. The rural market has become an important highlight in expanding domestic demand.

Stable investment in rural areas has been ensured. In the first quarter of this year, the fixed assets investment in the primary industry in China was 240.8 billion yuan, up 3 percent year on year.

To improve rural living environments, the country allocated 7 billion yuan to advance the “toilet revolution” in rural areas this year. It has also spent 3 billion yuan to improve rural living conditions in the central and western regions.

Consumption potential in rural areas has been further released as the market environment continues to improve, and new types of business such as e-commerce thrive in rural areas.

In the first three months of this year, the retail sales of consumer goods in rural areas increased by 9.2 percent year on year, 1.0 percentage point higher than that in the urban market. The retail sales of rural consumer goods accounted for 14.7 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, an increase of 0.1 percentage point over the same period of the previous year.

To achieve the first centenary goal on schedule and embark on the journey toward the second centenary goal, the most arduous task lies in rural areas, but the most extensive and profound foundation as well as the greatest potential also lie in rural areas.

For a major developing country like China, domestic demand is still the most important economic driver. The vast rural market with great dynamism and potential is crucial to expanding domestic demand and maintaining stable economic performance.

To unleash the potential, China needs to develop and strengthen rural industries and increase farmers’ income through multiple channels.

Thanks to the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas, famers now earn more. In the first quarter of this year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by 6.9 percent, continuing to maintain a medium-high rate of growth.

With the deepening of supply-side structural reform in agriculture, the upgrading of industrial structure and the vigorous development of various new industries and new businesses in rural areas, the country will continue to increase farmers’ income in the foreseeable future, said Zhao Changbao, deputy director of the policy and reform department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The release of potential is inseparable from the continuous improvement in infrastructure and living environments in rural areas.

Huamao village in Zunyi, southwest China’s Guizhou province now has access to stable electricity thanks to the new round of rural power grid upgrading.

Numerous rural roads have been built in villages. By the end of 2018, tarmac and cement roads had been paved in 99.64 percent of towns and townships and 99.47 percent of administrative villages. The internet penetration rate was 38.4 percent in rural areas, with 222 million netizens in 2018.

In rural areas, China has also improved garbage and sewage treatment, ensured access to safe drinking water, improved logistics networks and renovated dilapidated houses. Today, many rural areas have become more beautiful and become backyards of cities.

To unleash the potential, China needs to comprehensively improve public services and enable farmers to feel more satisfied.

China has moved faster to improve conditions in rural schools and enhanced the building of rural teacher teams. The country also worked to ensure that all newly added government subsidies for basic public health service expenditures are used for villages and communities.

In addition, China has increased the minimum basic aged-care pension benefits for rural and non-working urban residents from 70 to 88 yuan per person per month.

With these efforts, the country has eased the burden on hundreds of millions of farmers heading for a moderately prosperous society.

By Chu Daye

Chinese manufacturers of medical equipment are expected to benefit from China’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods amid the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, as a substitution drive is taking place, an industry analyst said on Tuesday, May 21.

China announced a tariff list affecting US-origin goods worth $60 billion on May 13. Items subject to tariffs range from blood pressure measuring instrument to B-ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.

China is the world’s second-largest market for medical equipment and drugs and a major source of revenue for American companies in the sector such as GE and Johnson & Johnson, the world’s leading players in medical equipment.

China imports mainly high-end medical equipment. For instance, customs data showed that in 2017, China imported $436 million worth of B-ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.

In the first quarter of the year, China’s imports of medical equipment and instruments grew by 10.8 percent year-on-year, while overall import growth was flat at just 0.3 percent.

Some industry analysts have argued that while some of the tariffs will be passed on to Chinese consumers by importers as some core technology and equipment can’t be replaced, some medical equipment that China can make may gain a boost in the market share.

With the tariffs raising product prices, foreign brands may lose competitiveness or be forced to invest more in localization, according to industry media reports.

In both scenarios, domestic medical equipment makers stand to benefit, and this development could aid efforts to breach foreign monopolies in entrenched sectors, the report said.

Li Tianquan, co-founder of domestic healthcare big data platform yaozh.com, noted that there are mixed results from the tariff wars among the drug and manufacturing sectors.

In some low-end segments, domestic brands already substitute for international brands with a price advantage. Quality of domestic products is the top concern for patients. If imported alternatives face an increase in price, domestic products stand a better chance, Li told the Global Times on May 21.

A major manufacturer of medical equipment, China exported medical equipment totaled $21.7 billion, up 5.84 percent year-on-year in 2017, according to a research paper by Caixin, citing customs data. Exports to the US were valued at $5.11 billion in the same year.

In the list of $300 billion worth of Chinese imports that would be hit with tariffs of up to 25 percent, proposed by the US, pharmaceuticals, certain pharmaceutical inputs and select medical goods were excluded.

Source：Global Times

By Li Haoran

The annual and quarterly reports of listed finance companies are like a mirror that reflects industrial development, the changes of financial services and the trend of macro economy.

Many commercial banks and insurance companies recently released their 2018 annual reports and Q1 reports of 2019. Revenue of 32 listed companies in China’s A-share market rose by 15.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, 7.5 percentages higher than the annual growth of 2018.

According to statistics, more and more bank loans have been flown to the private sector and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, 5 insurance companies saw a big rise in their premium income.

Such remarkable achievements made in the finance and insurance sector indicated from the side that Chinese economy has secured a good start this year with strong resilience.

Chinese economy has achieved progress and ensured stability in the short term. According to data recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the national services production index ballooned 7.4 percent year-on-year in April, the second highest since last September.

The output of the high-tech manufacturing sector surged 11.2% in the same period, 5.8 percentages higher than the industries above designated size. Surveyed urban unemployment rate went down by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.

These latest economic data proved that with economic growth, stable employment, and energetic market, China’s economic operation is still in a reasonable range, consolidating its trend for stability and growth.

In the mid-term, Chinese economy is well poised to keep the momentum of stable growth. China’s GDP growth has been kept between 6.4 percent and 6.8 percent for 14 quarters straight, and its employment is also enlarging. The growth of resident income slightly outruns that of economic growth, and consumption keeps playing as a major engine driving the economic growth.

Stability mounted to be the largest highlight of Chinese economy when conditions both at home and abroad were complex and challenging, and China has delivered better-than-expected economic performance with major indicators maintained within reasonable range.

The good momentum of steady growth is reflected by not only speed, but also the structural optimization and shifts of development models. The deepening of the supply-side structural reform in recent years has guided the country’s economy into a virtuous circle of price recovery, cost reduction, profit increase and confidence boost.

As a result, Chinese economy is seeing enhanced stability and more energetic momentum for growth.

It also enjoys cemented fundamentals that will sustain long-term growth. On the supply side, China’s comparative advantages in production factors, such as human resource, land, capital and emerging industries, stay unchanged, with continuously improving quality of the supply system.

On the demand side, China has a market of nearly 1.4 billion people with super huge domestic demand, and the expanding middle-income group in the country is making an obvious trend of consumption and injecting huge resilience and inner drive for the economy.

China has gained rich experiences in macro control with a huge space and sufficient tools since it implemented its reform and opening up policy. Though it will inevitably encounter new problems and challenges on its way forward, the economic fundamentals sustaining its sound development remain unchanged, so do its economic characteristics such as strong resilience, sufficient potential and large space for maneuver.

Those who recognize the trend are wise and those who ride the trend will win. Only by dispelling the “floating clouds” when observing and analyzing Chinese economy, can one grasp the development trend and find the right path.

The ship of Chinese economy has always been sailing through tides and waves. With enhanced capability, energy and potential, Chinese economy will ensure long-term stability for high-quality development.

We have every reason to believe that as time goes by, the stability and certainty for China’s steady growth will finally defeat instabilities and uncertainties, and usher in a brighter future with long-term and high-quality development.

Boats sail faster when they go with the flows, and men stay committed when they walk along the roads. The momentum of steady growth for China’s economy has never changed and will be an underlying trend going forward.

By enhancing confidence, overcoming difficulties, and working hard, China will definitely sail its ship of economy toward a brighter future.

By Li Daokui, Like Aobo and Mei Jinghua

Yi Huiman, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said during a recent event that the commission will attract more high-quality companies to go public and will explore ways to delist “zombie” and “empty-shell” companies. Yi’s remarks come in a timely manner, not only injecting confidence into the A-share market under the impact of the US-China trade war but also offering an olive branch to high-quality companies that haven’t gone public in the A-share market, including those that have already been listed overseas. The Chinese economy has entered a stage of high-quality development, with the financial sector also undergoing supply-side structural reforms. Given the crucial role of the capital market in both high-quality development and structural reforms, enhancing the quality of listed companies is key.

Why does China’s stock market lag obviously behind the Chinese economy in terms of development? Fundamentally speaking, the quality of stock market assets fails to reflect the development level of the Chinese economy. If the strongest football players cannot get into the national team, then the national team will not perform well. In general, China’s stock market hasn’t fully reflected the new changes and new trends of the Chinese economy in terms of structure and momentum, one of the important reasons for the poor performance of the market. Comparing the top 10 listed companies in China and the US, we can find that more than half of the US-listed companies are internet technology companies represented by Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Facebook, while most of the mainland-listed companies are those from traditional industries, like the four big banks and two energy giants, which is not completely consistent with China’s economic performance over the years.

In fact, over past decades, a large number of high-quality Chinese companies with good development prospects, high profitability and strong innovation impetus have chosen to go public overseas for various reasons. They include internet technology companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com, automobile brands like Geely and Great Wall Motors, and real estate giants like Evergrande and Country Garden. Their overseas listings deprived domestic investors of opportunities to share the development dividends of China’s best companies, also objectively underlining the insufficient efficiency and capability of China’s capital market in serving the real economy. Meanwhile, there are still a large number of low-quality and low-efficiency companies in the A-share market, which have no growth value and cannot play the leading role for their industries. These companies have not only occupied resources such as funds and listing quotas but have also distorted the valuation and pricing system of the capital market, thus inhibiting the vitality and resilience of the Chinese stock market. In this sense, supply-side structural reforms are very important and necessary, even urgent, for the Chinese stock market.

Thankfully, China’s capital market has already begun the reform process, with incremental reforms like the establishment of the science and technology innovation board and the pilot registration-based listing system. Since the size of such incremental reforms will be limited in the early stage, stock reforms involving the quality improvement of the 3,600-some listed companies seem more critical.

An A-share market that is aligned with quality economic growth should allow for both listing and delisting, an indication of capital market metabolism. Firms listed in the market need to be ones that lead industry development and boast considerable benefits. An A-share market as such will be a source of running water rather than a pool of stagnant water.

For this reason, it is suggested that efforts to “vacate the cage for new birds” in the A-share market should be made at an accelerated pace. This means making institutional improvements and creating conditions for fast-growing “seedling” companies such as unicorns to be “intercepted” at the domestic market. Actions should also be in place to innovate boldly and be keen on reforms, attracting premium overseas-listed firms back to the A-share market. Meanwhile, the regulatory authorities ought to strictly eliminate low-efficiency, ineffective listed firms and improve and firmly implement the delisting rules.

Over the course of delisting firms of low quality, the authorities should push for the revitalization of shell companies, increase shell supplies, and provide support to premium firms seeking an IPO via buying shells, acquiring or merging into low-quality listed firms, among other means. Such reformist drives will force existing listed firms to always be prepared for the unexpected and to stay pressured to improve corporate governance and earnings. This, adding to newly listed premium firms in the market, will naturally result in higher quality listed firms as a whole.

An improvement in the quality of listed firms will surely help in creating a vibrant and resilient capital market, preventing and handling varied risks facing the capital market, and turning China’s stock market into a genuine barometer of the real economy.

So long as the nation preserves with reforms, its capital market, whose performance has long baffled domestic investors, will certainly embrace a beautiful spring.

Li Daokui is director of the Academic Center for the Chinese Economic Practices and Thinking (ACCEPT) at Tsinghua University, Like Aobo is deputy director of the ACCEPT, and Mei Jinghua is a research fellow with the ACCEPT. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

Source：Global Times

By Li Lei and Liu Xin

As the Belt and Road Initiative continues to bring tangible benefits to the countries involved, more students from the Belt and Road route countries are choosing to study in China, and more of them are starting to learn advanced technology in addition to language and culture in Chinese universities.

Chalwe Lengwe, a student from Zambia, chose Xi’an Jiaotong University in Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province to study medicine in 2013 when he was 19 years old, and now he is in medical practice at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University.

“In Zambia, many students would like to study medicine, but there are few medical schools and they are very costly, especially the private ones,” Lengwe told the Global Times.

“China becomes the best option with its low cost and high-quality education,” said Lengwe.

Lengwe said he is planning to get his doctor’s license in Zambia after graduation. “The main reason I am studying medicine is to help others, which makes me feel life is meaningful,” Lengwe told the Global Times.

Training talent

With China’s rapid development in recent years, more and more people are beginning to understand Chinese culture and more countries, especially those along the Belt and Road route, are starting to recognize China’s technological and scientific achievements. These are the reasons why many students from countries along the Belt and Road route choose to study in the country, experts said.

Muhammad Sohail Khan is planning to do his doctoral studies in China this year after studying clinical medicine in Xi’an Jiaotong University for almost 10 years.

“I like China’s safe environment and convenient facilities,” Khan said.

Khan did his undergraduate studies at the university from 2010 to 2014. After a year of medical practice back in Pakistan, Khan applied for Xi’an Jiaotong University for postgraduate studies without hesitation.

As the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, Xi’an is playing a pivotal role in linking countries along the Belt and Road in terms of higher education.

In 2015, Xi’an Jiaotong University, the top university in Shaanxi Province, initiated the University Alliance of the Silk Road (UASR) to train international talent and work as a platform for educational cooperation. So far, the alliance has incorporated 151 universities from 38 countries, according to the School of International Education of Xi’an Jiaotong University.

Under the framework of the alliance, the university aims to train talents according to the practical requirements of Belt and Road construction. In 2018, Xi’an Jiaotong University had a total of 2,804 international students from 136 countries and regions, and 70 percent of them are from countries along the Belt and Road route.

Sofia Zachepylo, 19, from Ukraine, studies at the School of Economics and Finance of Xi’an Jiaotong University. She speaks fluent Chinese.

“China is undergoing rapid development, and I assume it will soon become the most powerful country economically. Therefore, I’d like to learn economics and trade in China,” said Zachepylo.

According to data from the Ministry of Education, there were 500,000 international students in China in 2017. And the number of students majoring in engineering, science and technology and agriculture increased by 20 percent compared to 2016, chinanews.com reported.

Practical choice

Instead of simply choosing language studies, more international students are choosing to study science and engineering or other practical majors in China. And Chinese universities, especially those located in important points of the Belt and Road route, have launched cooperative programs on talent training to help with local development.

Lanzhou University in Lanzhou, Northwest China’s Gansu Province, is an example. Being located on an important part of the Silk Road gives it a special advantage for international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Chi Gang, director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that the university has helped to train students from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and some African countries in areas where the university has advantages, including ecological study, biological science and grassland farming.

“Dozens of doctoral students from Pakistan in bioscience and ecological study have graduated from our university. They will make contributions to their own countries after going back. We have also set up cooperation centers with some countries. For example, our agricultural technology base in Kenya helps train local technicians and farmers with plastic film mulching and water saving technologies to solve food shortage problems,” Chi noted.

Chang’an University in Shaanxi Province, one of China’s top institutes for road and bridge and automobile engineering, has developed a university-industry cooperation model for training international talent, which has boosted international student numbers from 409 in 2013 to 1,600 in 2019.

Lü Weidong, director of the International Students Affairs office of Chang’an University in Xi’an, told the Global Times that “University-industry cooperation to train international students is a feature of Chang’an University, since we are among the first batch of universities in China that have adopted the approach, as well as the most experienced one.”

“Many large construction engineering companies that are participating in the Belt and Road construction came to us for cooperation, as training local talent is an effective way to cut costs and guarantee maintenance work after construction,” said Lü, adding that “cultivating local talent is also a responsibility that Chinese enterprises are fulfilling in the countries involved in the Belt and Road.”

Engineering students from The Republic of the Congo conduct fieldwork at a practice base in Chang’an University Photo: Courtesy of Chang’an University

“Cooperation with Shaanxi Automobile Holdings focused on scientific research projects of domestic students. Now the company has set up scholarships in our university to jointly train international students, as the company expands its business scope to some Southeast Asian and African countries such as Laos and Cambodia and Algeria,” Lü told the Global Times.

Lü said that at the beginning of 2018, the university and Shaanxi Automobile selected 20 students from these countries for postgraduate studies in the university, and provided them scholarships covering all their tuition fees. Additionally, the company also set up other scholarships for students with outstanding performances.

In addition to road and bridge engineering and automobile engineering, the university also launched majors serving projects involving sectors such as engineering accounting and management. In 2018, a total of 1,000 international students were admitted by the university, and the goal in 2019 is 1,600.

A Belt and Road engineering training center was also established at Chang’an University to provide one or two-year technical training and further education for engineers of foreign countries.

Lü told the Global Times that most of the international students who graduated from Chang’an University have returned to their own countries and are working for various infrastructure projects. Some of them have been employed by Chinese construction companies to work in overseas construction projects in different parts of the world.

Strengthening ties

The cooperation programs for training talents would also help to develop bilateral ties between China and countries along the Belt and Road route.

Zhang Wengang, director of the School of International Cultural Exchange in Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that the university has enrolled nearly 2,600 international students from 59 countries, with 97 percent of them from the Belt and Road route.

“During their study, the university pays attention to creating an international atmosphere on campus and also helps expand their understanding of China to explain characteristic Chinese culture and policies and show them the true China. These students will become a window for people to know China as well as a bridge for future friendship,” Zhang said.

Chi from Lanzhou University said that Pakistani students who graduated from there would offer intellectual support for the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and would also help cement bilateral ties between the two countries.

Moreover, Zhang said that these international students would also bring China’s governing experience to their own countries. “Compared with Western countries, China shares more similarities with developing countries along the Belt and Road route. Therefore, China’s experience in dealing with problems can be more helpful.”

Source：Global Times

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed its resolve to strengthen Nigeria’s bilateral economic relations with Russia though technology-driven opportunities.

Mr Muda Yusuf, LCCI’s Director-General, who said this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, noted that technology offered series of spaces for economic ties.

He said the chamber had concluded plans for the hosting of a Russian-Nigerian Business Forum on May 23.

According to him, the forum aims to create a platform for Russian technology firms to interact with their Nigerian counterparts.

The LCCI official said the Russian-Nigeria business forum would expose technological innovations capable of enhancing energy generation, food production, construction, transportation, communication and manufacturing.

“The event targets the importance of utilising technology along with the capabilities they represent to strengthen bilateral economic relations between the two countries,’’ he said.

Yusuf said the forum would also work out mechanisms for a direct and mutually beneficial economic interface between Nigerian businessmen and their Russian counterparts.

“The business forum will examine issues related to robotics, artificial intelligence, customer insights, big data and analytics, e-Commerce & m-Commerce.

“It will also explore employee management solutions, fraud and loss prevention, store operations such as cash management, epos solutions, self-checkout, virtual reality and augmented reality and scanners.

“The overall goal is to open up business opportunities within both countries for mutual benefits,’’ he said.

Yusuf further disclosed that Russian officials such as the Consul General and its Economic Counselor would attend the event.

Kogi State Internal Revenue Service has sealed the facilities of Telecommunication service providers like MTN, Airtel as well as Fort oil and Bank of Agriculture for refusing to pay taxes worth over N470M to the state government.

The Director of Legal Services and Enforcement of the Revenue service board, Barrister Jamil Isah who led his team to sealed the critical facilities of the two telecom service providers at mount patti, Obajana and other places in Lokoja, disclosed that Airtel owed over N321 million while MTN also refused to meet its obligation of over N140 million to Kogi state government.

Isah stressed further that Fort oil and Bank of Agriculture owes N5 and N3 Million respectively, saying their operation offices have been sealed.

“For quite some time, we have diligently approached the two telecom service providers the MTN and Airtel to pay some of their tax liabilities to the state government and they refused to cooperate with us.

“We then proceeded to the state High Court of Justice , the court having looked into the case granted us an order , authorising us to seal their facilities until those obligations are discharged by the affected organizations and that was what we have done to ensure that they pay the tax”, he said.

The Director of legal service who lamented that Airtel has refused to pay their annual rent for the laying of fiber cable on the soil of Kogi state, pointed out that the service provider paid their obligations in other state, vowed that the revenue service will continue to take a decisive action in order to compel them to pay their taxes.

“Pursuant to the directive of Kogi state governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello to have a listening ears to the complaints and challenges of the tax payers in the state, we met with them from time to time and make amend where we can.

“Sometimes we staggered their tax payments, we do some wavers and we reduced the tax payers liabilities in view of the challenges they presented before us. All of these to enable them pay the tax as at when due” he stressed.

He urged the prospective tax payers in the state not to delay in paying their tax or allow it to accumulate to a level that it will become difficult to pay.

Barrister Isah assured that the revenue service will continue to resolve whatever challenges they have in payment of taxes in the state.

…As Buhari directs FCT minister to checkmate Shiites menace

Federal Government has resolved to strengthen its policy around hides and skin, with a view to attracting more revenues and job opportunities.

The decision was a fall-out of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja on Wednesday.

Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu who threw more light on the policy, said the leather industry generated $921million for the government in 2013, a development that can be replicated if well harnessed.

He noted that Nigeria’s leather industry is rated second in Africa and eight position in export globally, adding that such potentials would create leverage for harnessing the livestock sector efficiently.

His words, “we resolved to harness the national leather and bye products policy that will enable government attract more investment into the sector.

“We would do this in a manner that will allow us make more gains instead of exporting raw leather or semi-finished products. We want to prepare our nation so that we can process our leather and use the leather in production of finished leather products.

“We have come to realize that it has application in almost every sector of our economic life, including footwear, apparels and automobile industry. There is hardly any machine that you will open without finding leather component. This is the only way we can create more jobs and a lot of wealth. We would be in a position to fight poverty.

“In any country, they always start with textiles and then leather. Here we have comparative advantage because our Labour cost is low. As far as light leather is concerned, we are number two in Africa and number 8 in terms of exporting leather in the world.

“If we harness the leather we have in Nigeria and that we processed our hides and skins, we will be creating a lot of jobs and wealth because of the small scale enterprises that will spring up. You will now be having new business springing up”.

Meanwhile, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed said FEC deliberated on the civil disturbance by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria IMN, otherwise referred to as Shittes.

He said the President directed the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello to address the issue deploying security measures at his discretion.

“Yes the matter came up for discussion in FEC, the Hon. Minister of FCT was asked to take up the matter with his own security committee,” he stated.