The chairman of the association, Richard Zhiyong Lu, made this known yesterday in Maigatari, headquarters of Maigatari LGA of Jigawa State while inspecting the Free Trade Zone as one of the locations for such companies.

 

According to him, the proposed companies are expected to produce farm implements that would not only be suitable for use on Nigerian soil but also affordable to local farmers. He added that the implements expected to be manufactured were not high-tech but smaller farm implements with modern technology.

 

He said they were in the state to see the market potentials for citing such companies. He added that with the incentive of tax holidays on manufacturing in the Free Trade Zone as well as the huge number of small holder farmers who constitute largely the market of their end products, citing the companies was just a matter of finalizing all agreements with the state government.

 

Richard said the first investment would be the $100m fertilizer producing company, adding that the establishment of the companies would come in phases.

 

"It is hard to say at present on how much we are investing because investment in agriculture involves a lot of things. We have the intention of establishing a fertilizer company, that one alone may require like $100m, agro-chemical and agricultural implements companies are also being considered. We have a plan in total to invest over $200m in the state.

 

"Once we are through with all formalities, we want to start production by the end of the year. The Free Trade Zone is a business tax-free zone. It is a brilliant idea for the Nigerian government to introduce such policy. We want to cite our factories in the Free Trade Zone in Maigatari because any businesses operating from the zone benefits from tax holidays," he said.

Source : allafrica.com