It was a homecoming for all industrialists in the South-East geopolitical zone as they converged on the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State to brainstorm on how to partner with the Federal Government and South-East governors to boost local production of goods and services in the country.

Among the notable industrialists that attended the one-day ceremony tagged: Southeast Manufacturers Stakeholders Forum included the Chikason Group, markets leaders, Pokobros Group, Ibeto Group, and representatives of each of the five Eastern states.

The high point of the event included the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN South-East,and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN

Addressing the participants at the MAN liaison office in Onitsha, Lady Ada Chukwudozie, Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, South-East chapter, urged federaland state governments to provide investment incentives for manufacturers to enhance production and boost the economy.

Lady Chukwudozie noted that such incentives would ensure ease of doing business for manufacturers as well as help them easily access funds and raw materials to enhance their productivity.

At the event with a theme: ˜Access to finance and cheaper funding for SMEs in Nigeria which also had several notable players in the manufacturing sector in attendance, Lady Chukwudozie,urged the Federal Government to subsidise the costofraw materials for manufacturers and proffer solutions to their challenges, especially electricity.

Earlier in the keynote address, the DG, SMEDAN, Charles Odii, said they intend to partner with MAN on their one product, one local government initiative where each localgovernment will be trained on at least one product manufacturing.(Vanguard)