Forty thousand artisans and local entrepreneurs of Abia State origin are to be trained to perfect their skills in goods and craft productions that meet international standard.
The artisans who hitherto lacked capacity building and skills to deliver good production lines would be exposed to 40 different specialised, identified and commercially viable areas to produce products that could be exported abroad.
The artisans would be trained by international experts from the United States, Thailand, and South Africa and would be certificated by the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike.
This was made known at the recent South-East, South-South orientation programme for partners and stakeholders of the Global Export Market Access and Expo (GEMAEXPO) of the unifying Nigerian project in Umuahia.
At the flag off of the programme, the wife of the state governor, Lady Mercy Odochi Orji said GEMAEXPO would teach the young artisans and exporters modern dimension of international business transaction and to discover and understand the inherent opportunities in the global market and meet the expected standard therein.
Lady Orji said the programme was aimed at replicating the Asian Tigers economic ingenuity and foresight by galvanising the artisans to exploits and produce crafts that would compete favourably in any economy in order to accelerate our own economic development.
She commended the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji for making the state investors’ friendly, adding that some of the policies put in place and legacy projects going on are testimonies of the government commitment to restore the economic fortunes of Abia and for Aba to regain its lost glory as the Japan of Africa.
