Accra, June 16, GNA – The Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association (GPPCA) has commended President John Dramani Mahama for the directive to print textbooks locally.
The Association is an umbrella body that embodies goods and services producers in the paper and packaging industry in Ghana.
President Mahama’s initiative seeks to introduce the Education Revolution to end the textbook shortage crisis due to failure to provide textbooks after changing the curriculum in recent years.
A statement issued in Accra said the policy directive aimed at transforming Ghana’s education.
The Association recounted President Mahama’s statement “This no-textbook phenomenon will end this year … that these textbooks are going to be printed by Ghanaian printers so that money stays here in Ghana.”
It said this synced with a study commissioned by GPPCA in 2014 on the local investors and selected counterparts abroad in the industry, their needs, and their interests.
The study highlighted a clear understanding of the local market for printing and paper converting, including regulations, demand, competition, challenges and potential investors.
“To this end, the GPPCA is determined to pursue the report recommendations,” he said.
It called for a complete removal of all pre-production tariffs to enable local printing firms to compete fairly with their foreign counterparts.
The statement said adoption of the UNESCO Convention that made provisions for the governments to suspend or set aside any agreement, if because of the implementation of the agreement, more books were imported into a country to cause dislocation in the local printing industry.
It said the government must take advantage of this provision to impose some levies on imported books, thus providing stability within the local printing industry.
“With the government sector forming up to 70 per cent of total demand of the printing industry in Ghana, it is important that the government fully implements the Textbook Policy (2005) by ensuring that 100 per cent of printing contracts are awarded to local printing firms,” it said.
It said the printing industry had already shown what it was capable of and in a previous major contract cycle, only three out of many capable local printers managed to produce and deliver the entire consignment, proving technical competence, operational readiness, and national commitment.
The statement said significantly, the 24-hour economy concept was manifested in the printing and paper conversion or packaging sectors, given that printers could work in the envisaged 3-eight-hour shift system, given that most printing and package production companies were under-utilizing their capacity, with machines lying idle for want of printing and packaging job contracts.
Ideally, the industry could increase employment rates by about 40 per cent if they were awarded significant volumes of printing contracts existing in the Ghanaian economy, but which currently were sourced from abroad, despite the availability of local capacity.
Generally, the benefits of investing in the printing and paper converting industry include – market demand; profitability and tax mobilization; the potential for growth; job creation; amidst societal impact and contribution to the local economy.
The statement said the prospects of further investment in the local printing and paper converting industry were enormous and signified the potential stretch of Ghanaian producers to capture the West African paper print and packaging market.
The Association sought support from government in the areas of passing an instrument or a presidential directive approved by parliament to use only local factories for the supply of all government and institution printing materials needs such as textbooks, exercise books, and other printed materials.
“Cancel all exemptions for companies that import finished printed materials such as jackets, boxes or packaging materials. Hence, they must pay import duties and VAT,” it added.
The statement said that the government would create a favorable environment to help local printers and converters to grow, employ more people, pay more taxes and create wealth and paper converters, commonly referred to as print, packaging, and labeling manufacturers transform paper and polymer-based raw materials into safe, durable, and aesthetically pleasing containers and receptacles.
It said although the industry played a crucial role across multiple sectors, its vast economic and developmental potential remained largely underutilized.
It called for more proactive policy measures and strategic investment to unlock the full potential of this vital industry.
GPPCA is committed to building strong relationships with key stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, and other industry partners to effectively advocate for, and sustain trust and support for the effective implementation of the President’s revolutionary drive.
“Indeed, a home-grown solution to provide adequate textbooks, among other logistics, for the effective and efficient running of the education sector,” It added.
GNA
Christian Akorlie