 Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm pleased to be able to join you for this auspicious event, the Nigeria-Indonesia Trade and Investment Forum. It's a very appropriate event given the close ties between both countries, which share a number of similarities and can learn from one another. It's also a very good opportunity to highlight the potential for increased trade and investment between Nigeria and Indonesia. In addition to being large democracies with diverse peoples, both countries are major oil and gas producers and members of the organization of petroleum exporting countries, as well as leading global producers of agricultural commodities like palm oil and cocoa. We also face similar challenges of providing much needed social services to our large populations and in building modern infrastructure to underpin economic growth. It's a matter of great pleasure for us in Nigeria that Indonesia is doing well on several fronts, despite difficult global conditions. The high growth rate of this country at 5.4%, low inflation, political stability, and huge infrastructural investments show us that our priorities in Nigeria are not displaced or impossible to achieve. It also underscores the scope for mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries. Nigeria is also doing well on several fronts, with GDP growth rising steadily after the COVID-19 induced recession of 2020. GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 was 3.54%. We have also implemented huge infrastructural projects in power, in roads and railways, as well as an innovative and pathbreaking social investment program, which is helping to increase opportunity and reduce poverty. Just as Indonesia moved up 47 places in the World Bank ease of doing business rankings between 2014 and 2020, Nigeria has also moved up 39 places in a similar period. Indeed, we were twice rated as one of the top 10 performers in this regard globally. This background of similarity and shared interests persuades me that the theme chosen for this forum is appropriate. After a period in which global trade and investment was disrupted by COVID-19 and associated lockdowns and supply chain disruptions, the situation is now being further complicated and compounded by increased geopolitical tensions that are further straining global economic ties. It is therefore very important that our two countries, which play significant roles in our respective regions and indeed the world, are deliberating on reawakening global commerce. A good starting point for reawakening global commerce is to revitalize our bilateral trade and investment ties, given that Indonesia is an important member of the G20 and Nigeria is Africa's largest economy. Trade between both our countries is relatively diversified and is estimated to have reached a volume of 2.1 billion US dollars in 2021. This is hardly enough, given that the combined GDP of both our countries is 1.7 trillion US dollars, which means that the value of trade between us is less than 0.1% of our combined national incomes. There is certainly a great scope for increased trade, which fortunately cuts across agricultural commodities, mineral goods, and manufactured goods. We can surely scale up the volume of bilateral trade by improving transport links and facilitating trade, which will be helped by the unrelenting efforts to improve our respective business environments. Such improvements are also key to increasing investments and I strongly believe that this forum will provide an additional opportunity to deepen investment ties between Nigeria and Indonesia, which will in turn expand and deepen our economic collaboration. On its part, the federal government of Nigeria has improved the national investment landscape through the upgrading of our investment schemes, which are now compiled in one document called the Comparium of Investment Incentives in Nigeria, and it's produced by our Nigerian Investment Promotion Council and the Federal Inland Revenue Service. There are in addition other frameworks to support specific sectors and to promote public-private sector partnerships, which I encourage our Indonesian partners to utilize. As we reawaken commerce bilaterally, we should also do so at the regional and global level. Indonesian businesses should see Nigeria as the natural gateway into the African continent of free trade area, which brings together 54 African countries with a population of 1.3 billion people and a market size of $3.4 trillion. In addition to our large internal market and improving business environment, we are well located in the Gulf of Guinea and nearly equidistant to all parts of the continent, especially in terms of land and air links. Current global developments, including geopolitical dynamics and climate change, have created challenges for developing countries and placed enormous responsibilities on countries like Nigeria and Indonesia. It is in this context that I must commend the exertions of President Yoko Widodo regarding the conflict in Ukraine, which intervention resulted in a mitigation of global food shortages. Nigeria on its part continues to call for a just transition towards net zero carbon emissions by enabling the use of natural gas to overcome energy poverty in Africa while reducing emissions from more polluting fossil fuels and saving forests from being cut down for use as firewood. Let me at this stage thank the government and people of Indonesia for hosting this forum and for the decision to prioritize Nigeria as one of your investment destinations in Africa. I also salute my compatriots Ambassador Usman Ogha, Ambassador of Nigeria to Indonesia and Mr Ishmael Balogun, President of the Nigeria Indonesia Chambers of Commerce and Industry for their role in organizing this very important event. I'm confident that with the spirit shown by participants and working together we will see a substantial improvement in the trade and investment ties between Nigeria and Indonesia. Thank you very much for your kind attention.