Ogbonnaya Ikokwu, Umuahia
The Abia State Governor Alex Otti, has performed ground-breaking ceremony of the Abia Industrial and Innovation Park in Owaza, Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking during the event on Saturday, Otti said park, seating on over 1,000 hectares of land, would host multiple layers of businesses including modular refineries, petrochemical and fertiliser plants and several other chains of enterprises.
Otti who was accompanied by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, disclosed that the park would take advantage of the oil and gas deposits in Ukwa, nearness to Aba and Port Harcourt cities, a seaport in the works, Export Processing Zone (EPZ), twenty four hours power supply and other components of the larger ecosystem within the community.
The governor pointed that out that the state had secured the support of a major stakeholder to build an innovation and incubation centre within the Park.
He said, “The facility would train and expose our young minds to the best tools and platforms for their trade.
“The innovation and incubation centre would specially benefit university students, graduates and start-ups in several ways.”
Development partners including the Executive Secretary Nigeria Local Content and Monitoring Board, Simbi Nwobote, Executive Director Total Energy Obi Ememba, Nigeria Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone Morgan Umahi, the chairman Shell Petroleum Osagie Osumbor, commended the governor for initiating the project and vowed to offer their support to make it a reality.
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