Mr Teo Eng Cheong (left), CEO, IE Singapore, and Mrs Mawuena Adzo Trebarh, CEO, GIPC, at the press briefing in Accra. Picture: Maxwell Adombila AkalaareThe Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) is expecting high volumes of foreign direct investments (FDIs) from Singapore in the coming months, following recent increase in investor interest from that country in the Ghanaian economy.
The Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Mrs Mawuena Adzo Trebarh, who disclosed this at a news briefing in Accra, added that the investments were expected to go into light manufacturing, ports and logistics, agriculture as well as the ailing power sector.
“There are a number of business-to-business (B2B) discussions currently ongoing between Ghanaian businesses and their counterparts from Singapore. We expect those discussions to lead to increased investments in the coming days,” Mrs Trebarh added.
The briefing was done in conjunction with a business delegation from Singapore, led by that country’s external trade facilitating agency—the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.
It was to set the tone for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two institutions on July 23.
The MoU is to help in information sharing, facilitate B2B discussions and missions to and from each country and subsequently raise Singapore’s FDIs in the country.
“A lot of Singaporean companies have expressed interest in investing in Ghana and they are looking almost at all sectors, especially the oil and gas, agriculture and infrastructure, among others,” the CEO of IE Singapore, Mr Teo Eng Cheong, said at the press briefing.
“Singapore has a lot of interest in Africa and we think that setting up in Ghana and in South Africa is the best way to send that signal,” he added.
Although authorities of the GIPC and the IE Singapore are declining to comment on the amount and number of investment inflows they are targeting in the coming days, the two institutions are of the view that the MoU will help create an enabling environment that will lure businesses from Singapore to set up in Ghana.
Trade between Ghana and Singapore is currently around US$1 billion and FDI inflows amounted to US$250 million in 2012, information from the GIPC showed.
“Our desire now is to build on this success by creating the right atmosphere for businesses from Singapore to invest in the country,” the GIPC’s CEO stated.
By Maxwell Adombila Akalaare/Daily Graphic/Ghana