Accra, Sept.
10, GNA – Trade and Industry Minister, Mr Alan Kyeremanten has urged the private
sector to take advantage of the current conducive environment to transform the
industrial sector in Ghana.
Addressing the
opening session of the Ghana Industrial Summit and Exhibition 2019 on Tuesday,
Mr Kyeremanten said government in the last few years did everything to ensure
that all the fundamentals needed to spur competitive growth such as
macro-economic stability and fiscal incentives were in place.
He said the
various initiatives and incentives by the government were aimed at creating an
environment, where businesses could thrive, adding that it was an exciting time
for industry.
However, Mr
Kyerematen said ensuring a competitive industrial sector was a joint responsibility
of government and the private sector and advised the private sector to find
ways of engaging the government regarding the implementation of the various
programmes.
“Identify the
gaps and inform the government to take the appropriate measures,” he said, and
urged the private sector to audit the existing fiscal incentives to enable them
take advantage.
The Minister
said government was also taking steps to enhance access to finance through the
Ghana Exim Bank and in the process of refocusing the operations of the National
Investment Bank to become and industrial bank.
There is also
work on industrial infrastructure such as land banks, while various programmes
and agreements were in place to enhance access to markets within the West
Africa sub-region and beyond.
Mr Kyeremanten
called on private sector to adopt cutting-edge technology to enhance operations
and productivity.
Dr Yaw Adu
Gyamfi, the President of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), said business
thrived on policies, networking and sharing of ideas and experiences.
He said the
projections that intra-African trade under the Continental Free Trade would
have increased from 15 per cent to 52 per cent by 2020, implied bigger market
and stiffer competition.
He called on
Government to quicken its pace on the Industrial Transformation Agenda through
dedicated policies and inventiveness to bolster growth of the Ghanaian economy,
which was crucial to strengthening local industry.
He said any
effort by Government to build local industry must go alongside improving the
country’s macro-economic fundamentals, trade facilitation and infrastructural
deficits otherwise Ghana risked losing the gains in strengthening industry.
Dr Adu Gyamfi
said: “While we work towards improving local production capacity, the areas of
comparative advantage that we have as a country should be our immediate focus.”
He said salt
production, aluminium chain, oil and gas, and pharmaceuticals were few areas
worth considering, adding that, from years of practice, the Ghanaian pharmaceutical
products were most preferred brands in the sub-region.
He said science
and technology were also critical drivers for the country’s competitiveness and
accelerated industrial growth, adding that admittedly, the country had not
leveraged technology and applied sciences sufficiently to enhance
competitiveness.
Dr Adu Gyamfi
said it was important that the country fully integrated technology and applied
sciences into industrial processes, adding that the standard and expectations
of industry in the modern world were being driven by competition faced from the
global economy.
He said there
was the need to rethink how business was done daily to ensure alignment with
trends in technology in order to remain relevant to the global economy.
Mr Yofi Grant,
Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, urged local
businesses to register with the Centre to be able to benefit from the
incentives on offer.
He also called
on them to explore partnerships to enable them grow their businesses.
The three-day
Summit organised by the AGI and the Volta River Authority is on the theme:
“Strengthening Ghanaian Industries for Global Competitiveness.”
GNA
