By IKENNA OSUOHA

The House Committee on the South East Development Commission (SEDC) has approved the N140 billion 2026 budget proposal for the commission.

Adopting the budget proposal as a working document, Chairman of the committee, Rep. Chris Nkwonta, commended the Managing Director of the commission, Mr Mark Okoye, for a job well done.

Nkwonta, who described Okoye as “a round peg in a round hole,” lauded his vision and economic plans for the development of the South-East zone.

Earlier, the managing director had reeled out the commission’s development plans for the South-East zone.

Part of the plans, according to him, is to construct railways across the five states of the zone, saying it would enhance trade and investment.

“We have a vision to make the South-East a preferred investment hub in the next 10 years and we will achieve this through industrialisation, agriculture and technology,” he said.

Okoye said that harmonisation of economic policies across the region was key to making the region a unified economic block.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for approving South East Development Company Limited to enable the commission to get a one billion dollar market portfolio in the next 10 years.

The managing director expressed the commission’s willingness to tackle under-employment which, according to him, is higher in the zone. (NAN)