By Adedapo Adesanya
Global engineering firm, Hyundai, has expressed a keen interest to set up a car plant and also rehabilitate refineries in Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hyundai, Mr Hag Kim, during a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, said the company, with 15,000 engineers and technical staff globally, was willing to contribute to the development of the Nigerian economy.
“We have been building refineries worldwide. We have the biggest in South Korea, with 650,000 barrels per day capacity.
“We are also in Venezuela, Iraq, and many other places. We would be glad to contribute our quota in Nigeria,” he said.
On his part, President Buhari assured the company of Nigeria’s support and said that the government would collaborate with and support Hyundai to realise its investment proposal in Nigeria.
Mr Buhari also said the country would ensure energy security, adding that, “The goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in the supply of petroleum products within the next three years”.
Commenting on the proposal to establish the car plant in Nigeria, the President said, “We will collaborate and support to make the investment a reality.”
However, this has brought about scrutiny from many Nigerians who opined that Hyundai’s intention to build a car plant in Nigeria goes against President Buhari’s crusade to boost local production especially.
Critics argued that the presence of Hyundai in the country would affect Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (IVM), a Nigerian automobile and bus manufacturing company, which was founded by Innocent Chukwuma Nwala.