Niyi Adebayo: Nigeria-South Korea trade volume declined 74% in two years

The federal government says trade volume between Nigeria and South Korea declined from $5 million in 2018 to $1.3 million in 2019.

This represents a 74 percent decline in volume.

Niyi Adebayo, minister of industry, trade and investment, said this during a courtesy call by Kim Young-Chae, South Korean ambassador to Nigeria, on Tuesday.

Adebayo, who expressed concerns over the shape decline in the volume of trade between Nigeria and South Korea, called for improvement going forward.

He said that both nations shared strong economic and investment ties with over 20 Korean companies presently operating in Nigeria.

He also called on Korean investors to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to invest in Nigeria so that they would have access to the large market on the continent.

Adebayo urged his visitors to encourage investors from South Korea to invest in the new special economic zones (SEZ) established by his ministry in each of the six geographical zones across Nigeria.

In his remarks, Young-Chae promised to deepen the trade relations between Nigeria and South Korea and assured the minister that he would support government programmes.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that in the fourth quarter of 2020, Nigeria imported herrings (fish) from South Korea valued at N769.2 million — making it one of Nigeria’s top imported agricultural products.