The Governments of Enugu State, Nigeria, and Vienna, Austria, have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefits of their peoples and nations.

This was made known in Vienna during a meeting between a delegation of the Enugu State Government led by Governor Peter Mbah, and the Executive Councillor, City of Vienna Peter Hanke.

Speaking at the meeting, which had in attendance senior officials of the State of Vienna, including Oliver Stribl, Managing Director of Vienna Holdings, which is comprised of over 150 businesses owned by the State of Vienna, Gov Mbah said the meeting was sequel to an earlier meeting with the Federal Republic of Austria in May, resulting in the signing of an agreement for the establishment of a K-9 Training Unit in Enugu to boost security in the state.

“We have also noted the achievements of the State of Vienna in the areas of economic growth, quality of life advancements, and social development.

“In Enugu, we have unveiled a humongous vision to our people to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn. We also promised to position Enugu State as the preferred destination for business, investment, tourism, and living.

“We have recorded major initiatives and progress, especially in the areas of security, education, water production and supply, ICT, digitisation and digitilisation of government services, just to name a few. However, these advancements, while creditable, have only served to make us double down on our commitment to achieve our stated mission and vision.

“We have also always recognised the importance of collaboration in the journey towards our development goals, and given the admirable achievements of the State of Vienna in these areas, including waste management, we are interested in establishing, deepening and formalising a wide-ranging collaboration with Vienna,” Mbah stated.

Speaking, Peter Hanke, who is in charge of Finance, Business, Labour, International Affairs and Public Utilities in Vienna, expressed his excitement at engaging further with the Enugu State Government to fashion out specific areas and modalities for collaboration going forward.

He highlighted the State of Vienna’s experiences in recovering from the ashes of WWII and the extensive support the state provided to cities and regions in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Iron Curtain of communism in Europe, stressing that there would be numerous possible areas of mutual benefits for the States of Enugu and Vienna.

Hanke said that he had always seen Enugu as one of the most business-friendly in Nigeria, adding that Oliver Stribl of Wien Holdings would relate closely with the Enugu State Government to work out the modalities and detailed steps for a collaboration between Enugu and Vienna, which would culminate in a far-reaching formal collaboration agreement with detailed action steps and timelines.

Meanwhile, Governor Mbah also met with the President of the national parliament of Austria, Mag. Wolfgang Sobotka, among others.