President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja said Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local capacity.
In his remarks at the official public presentation of the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) 2020, the President said: “The implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council.
’’The president said the policy would improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment and boost tourism without compromising national security.
“Earlier in the course of this Administration, we introduced the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020) with one of the objectives being to minimize bottlenecks which impede innovation and market based solutions for building an inclusive economy.
“The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones,’’ he added. The President also noted that the Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 provides an avenue to achieve African integration by introduction of visas on arrival for short visits to Nigeria for holders of passports of African Union countries.
“I therefore commend the document to the international community, foreign and local business entities. We are open for business,’’ he said.In his remarks, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, said the visa policy took into consideration specific needs of foreigners who would want to visit the country, without compromising the security of the country.
The new policy has 79 categories, which include health, education, tourism etc, pointing out that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Interpol also made inputs into the system, and would be carried along in the processing before approvals.