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Title: Nigeria, Spain trade hits 3bn euros, says envoy
Time: 1/24/2010 6:31:48 PM

The volume of trade between Nigeria and Spain hit more than three billion euros in 2009, Mr Obed Waziri, the Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, said in Madrid.
Waziri told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend at the ongoing Feria International de Tourismo Trade Fair in Spain that the Western European country was Nigerias second largest trading partner after the U.S.
``Nigeria supplies 25 per cent of Spains crude oil and gas needs, while it imports cosmetics, fabrics, leather products and spirits, among others, from Spain.
``We are trying to educate Nigerians who come to transact business in Spain to formalise their trade, he said.
He described the relations between Spain and Nigeria as excellent, saying the ties had resulted in an increase in contacts, visits and development initiatives.
The ambassador also said that more than 80,000 Nigerians were living legally in Spain and noted that the Nigerians had legal documents to conduct their businesses there lawfully.
He said the embassy planned to build a database on Nigerians residing illegally in the country.
The database, he said, would enable the mission to know the actual number of Nigerians living in Spain with a view to monitoring their activities.
``The embassy and the Spanish authorities are already working to ensure that Nigerians living illegally and who have no questionable records are assisted to get the necessary permit to stay, the ambassador said.
He said Nigeria and Spain had signed an agreement to fight human trafficking, pointing out that the agreement entailed the repatriation of illegal immigrants ``after the necessary due process.
``This is the greatest challenge facing the embassy as many Nigerian youths who want to come to Europe illegally die on their way because of the difficult terrain.
Waziri said some 1,000 Nigerian illegal immigrants were deported in 2009, down from the more than 2,000 affected in 2008. 
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