By
Morkporkpor Anku, GNA
Accra, Sept. 18, GNA – Mr Alan Kwadwo
Kyeremanten, Minister of Trade and Industry on Tuesday said government has
outlined a very comprehensive set of incentives for Companies and Businesses
that promote the, “One District One Factory” initiative to develop the country.
The incentives include duty free status for
importing machinery and equipment, duty free for importing all raw materials
for the Company, a Five-year tax holiday to be extended on application, which
could be extended after the period.
Mr Kyeremanten was speaking at the opening of
a three-day Association of Ghana Industries’ (AGI) Ghana Industrial Summit and
Exhibition in Accra.
This year’s event is on the theme:
“International Partnerships for Value-Added Industrial and Local Content
Development”.
He said there were so many incentives
government was providing to support Companies interested in the initiative.
He encouraged those, who had already applied
for the initiative that government would provide both equity and also
incentives to enable them sustain their business and improving on the Ghanaian
economy.
He said the private sector needed to make
their contributions in the equation towards the implementation of the
initiative.
The Minister said government believed that in
moving to “Ghana beyond Aid”, “our attention should be focused on the private
sector investment both local and international”.
He said when President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo talked about Ghana beyond aid, there was a strong signal being sent
to the private sector that they need to come on board to drive its
implementation, adding that it must open a new chapter of relationship between
government and the private sector.
He said so far, the 1D1F secretariat had
received 700 proposal from the private sector both local and international
Companies.
Mr Kyeremanten said government was ready to
partner the private sector in the implementation of the initiative in all
districts.
“We are also championing the development of
industrial parks at least in all regions of the country,” he added.
The Trade Minister said government was looking
for Companies, who have the intention and the interest in developing these
industrial parks.
He said another pillar of the transformation
agenda was the identification of a number of strategic industries that would
propel the country to the next level of the development process.
These industries are petrol chemical industry,
iron and steel industry, integrated Bauxite and aluminium industry.
Dr Yaw Gyamfi, the President of AGI lauded
government’s effort at making industrialisation, a key focus in its development
agenda.
He said as an Association, they support any
efforts aimed at bringing transparency to the importation of goods into the
country as long as it does not bring additional cost burden to the businesses.
Dr Gyamfi said, “If the introduction of the
CTN will address this menace, so be it and AGI fully supports it”.
The AGI President said the concerns raised by
the freight forwarders with regards to the additional cost burden and other
proposals should be looked into but government should not backtrack on this
efforts.
He said the AGI believed that the best
approach in achieving the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda was to promote the productive
sector to expand and create the needed jobs and help generate the kind of tax
revenue needed to enable the country operate without aid.
Topics to be discussed include how to take
advantage of international demand for high-end products to grow our industrial
sectors, value-addition prospects and available capacity in existing
industries, utilizing latest industrial technologies in production processes,
and harnessing the potential of renewable energy as a cheaper source of power
for industrial growth.
The rest are “Availability of power to feed
the value-added industrialization drive”, “Technology exchange programmes with
international partners
GNA