Business News of Monday, 23 February 2015
Source: Graphic Online
The Switzerland Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Gerhard Brugger, has urged the government to ensure that existing firms in Ghana receive the needed support to expand their businesses instead of focusing on bringing new investors into the country.
According to him, foreign investors preferred to invest in a country where government policies are vibrant enough to support the already existing businesses, and that “the focus should, therefore, be to protect and promote businesses in Ghana first”.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic ahead of the embassy’s plans to commemorate its 200th anniversary in Ghana, Mr Brugger said Ghana’s economy had the potential to climb to the top and compete with those in other countries.
Mr Brugger mentioned the high cost of energy and the absence of basic infrastructure, especially the transportation sector in Ghana, as the leading reasons why investors in Switzerland were reluctant to do business in the country
Mr Brugger said most of the investors in Switzerland were willing to commit huge resources into Ghanaian businesses but the prevailing condition had made them hold on.
According to Mr Brugger, investors from Switzerland contend that the cost of producing in Ghana is so expensive that they “don’t see how they can recoup their investment.”
He said although the embassy was doing a lot to convince them to come to Ghana, “a lot depends on the policies put in place by the government of Ghana.”
Touching on some of the activities to commemorate 200 years of Switzerland missionaries in Ghana, the Ambassador said the embassy intended to embark on a waste management project at the Akuapem Traditional Area.
According to him, the move is to help solve the sanitation problem in the country and also create the enabling environment for local folks to make a living with the project.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Swiss-Ghanaian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Samuel Incoom noted that Ghana had been a key partner to Switzerland over the decades and added the main objective was to promote trade and businesses between Ghana and Switzerland.