By Busuyi Ogidiolu
The Ekiti State government has entered into partnership with a Brazilian organization to make the economy of the state viable.
The State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Prof. Rasak Ojo Bakare made this known in Ado-Ekiti while receiving a team of tourists developers from Brazil.
He said the visit of the Brazilians was the aftermath of the trip by the Ministry’s top officials to Brazil last year, this he said has yielded positive results not only for tourism industry but for other facets of the economy.
Prof Bakare revealed that that over 25 investors have shown interests in coming to Ekiti to invest in the different areas of the economy, under what he called the Brazil-Ekiti Project.
The Commissioner stated that the government of Ekiti under Governor Kayode Fayemi has been sending experts- bureaucrats to notable countries to learn how they developed that sector for the state to adopt the same workable plans.
While reeling out the economic benefits inherent in the sectors, a delegate from Brazilian team Mr Lucas Andrade, said Brazilian government was making several billions of naira annually from tourism, arts , culture and hospitality businesses due to priority placed on the sector.
Mr Andrade revealed that his team comprising over 25 investors was ready to work with the state government to bring more development to the state in the focal areas.
“It is not gainsaying the fact that Brazil has one of the best economy in culture, arts and tourism. This is what we are trying to replicate in Ekiti .
“To develop this sector, it is always very economically viable to develop it alongside the hospitality business. That was what the Brazilian government did and it was paying off
“We have seen that Ekiti has a lot of untapped potentials in arts, culture, hospitality and arts . We are bringing in our team of experts to build these areas into a money spinning ventures that can develop the local economy here in Ekiti without depending on other sources.
“We will partner with the universities and colleges here, teach them how to domesticate some of our ideas in these sectors. They can learn them from us and domesticate it exclusively for this place. This is a great opportunity for us and Ekiti must key into it.
“In the area of tourism and Culture, Andrade, said the two bodies can partner for foreign exchange earnings in the critical sector” He said
