Ghana would not be hostile to Malaysia
257,342 tonnes
of non-traditional products exported
GIPC registered
138 projects last year
ECOWAS-EU
Senior Ministers meet in Accra
Aluworks
loss brings index down
Ghana
would not be hostile to Malaysia
Accra (Greater Accra)
23 April 2003- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday said it had never been
the government's intention to be hostile to Malaysia. He said government had
appreciated the wisdom and competence of the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr
Mohammad Mahathir to steer affairs of the country, adding "if there is any
country Ghana could learn from then, it is Malaysia".
President Kufuor said
this when Tun Daim Zainuddin, former Malaysian Finance Minister who is leading
an eight-man Malaysian business delegation to Ghana paid a courtesy call on him
at the Castle, Osu.
The delegation, which
is on a three-day business tour of the country at the invitation of President
Kufuor would hold talks with the Ministries involved in the water sector and
roads and highways. President Kufuor said "your visit is an evidence of
the determination by the government to re-engage with Malaysia on trustful and
beneficial relations in order that any idea of the government being
anti-Malyasia is dispensed with".
He said in its
endeavour to ensure more business relations with Malaysia, government would not
be hostile to Malaysia and the visit should mark a new level in the relations
between both countries.
President Kufuor
urged the delegation to be worthy ambassadors of Ghana and promote more
fruitful relations between both countries, because with the business group in
Ghana, the two sides should resume negotiations of mutual benefit. Zainuddin
said discussions held between the delegation and their Ghanaian counterparts so
far had been fruitful and would bear good results.
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257,342
tonnes of non-traditional products exported
Tema (Greater Accra)
23 April 2003 - A total of 257,342 tonnes of non-traditional products were
exported through the port of Tema in 2002 as against 242,866 tonnes in 2001,
representing an increase of six percent, Mrs Mercy Coleman, Traffic Manager of
the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has said.
She told the Ghana
News Agency (GNA) at the weekend that fresh pineapples constituted 12 percent
of the commodities among ten products that are frequently exported. The rest of
the ten items are lumber/plywood/veneer 11.8 per cent, cocoa products, 10 per
cent, sheanuts, nine percent, canned tuna, 8.6 percent and scraps 5.5 percent.
The rest are fresh
yams, five percent, mouldings and furniture/components, 3.6 percent, aluminium
products, and cashew nuts three per cent each. The latest shipment brings to
1,829,272 tonnes of non-traditional products so far exported through the port
since 1992.
The main exporting
countries are Holland, Spain, Germany and France, all in Europe and some
countries in West Africa and the Far East. The Traffic Manager said everything
had been put in place to ensure that no product goes bad at the sheds.
The GNA learnt that
the products do not keep long at the shed because the exporters are normally
informed of the arrival of the conveying vessels and so they bring in the
products on time. However, in the event of shipment delays, air-conditioners
have been installed to preserve them.
Variety of items such
as charcoal, banana and wheat bran exported through the port also increased by
15 per cent from 67 varieties in 2001 to 79 in 2002. Non-Traditional Exports in
tonnage from 1992 to 2001: 2001 - 242,866, 2000 - 250,268, 1999 - 218,556, 1998
- 212,633, 1997 - 195,789, 1996 - 170,850, 1995 - 75,718, 1994 - 59,962, 1993 -
74,238, and 1992 - 71,050.
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GIPC
registered 138 projects last year
Accra (Greater Accra)
23 April 2003- The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) said on Tuesday
that it registered 138 projects worth 65.13 million dollars last year. This,
however, represents a decline from 2001 when 171 projects estimated at 97.30
million dollars were registered.
In its review of last
year's performance the GIPC said the decline was due to the general slump in
investments worldwide. In a breakdown of its quarterly performances, GIPC said
26 projects, estimated at 11.73 million dollars were registered in the first
quarter, 28 valued at 9.21 million dollars in the second, 47 projects estimated
at 14.59 million dollars in the third and 38 projects estimated at 29.60
million dollars in the fourth quarter.
It said the total
amount of 65.13 million dollars was made up of 58.93 million dollars from
foreign sources and 6.21 million dollars in local investments. GIPC said the
initial foreign capital transfers recorded in the period totalled 12.94 million
dollars.
The manufacturing
sector was the largest beneficiary, registering 42 projects involving 16.24
million dollars, followed by the services sector with 37 projects at the cost
of 7.91 million dollars while tourism had 17 investment projects valued at 3.71
million dollars in both foreign and local funding.
Projected employment
generated during the period involved 5,522 Ghanaians and 466 non-Ghanaians, the
GIPC said. Greater Accra alone accounted for 116 projects.
Touching on
achievements at the end of the centre's five-year Corporate Plan implemented
between 1995 and 2000, GIPC said 1,084 FDI projects were undertaken with following
breadowns; the service sector recorded 314, manufacturing got 300, tourism had
129, building and construction got 92, and agriculture received 87.
These projects were
made up of 763 joint Foreign-Ghanaian ones and 321 were wholly foreign owned
and were initially estimated to cost 1,209.64 billion dollars and US$398.88
million respectively.
The second
medium-term Plan 2000-2004 incorporated in the last year of the first plan was
designed to transform the Centre's promotional strategy from a general approach
to a specifically targeted one directed at firms and sectors pre-determined in
an FDI Demand Study.
"Results of this
programme has been modest partly due to insufficiency funding and the
prevailing down-turn in the world investment trend since the events of
September 11. These issues notwithstanding the Centre recorded 165, 171 and 138
projects in 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively making a total of 474 projects
valued at an initial cost of US$ 294.49 million.
"These
investments are estimated to generate employment for some 61,025 Ghanaians and
3,693 non-Ghanaians in the first plan period and 20,719 Ghanaians and 1,515
non-Ghanaians in the second plan period.
Total foreign capital
transfers in respect of the minimum required by the law amounted to US$202.0
million. According to GIPC, Britain remained the biggest source of foreign
investments flow into the country, registering 146 projects. It is closely
followed by India with 131 projects, China 128 projects, USA 107 projects,
Lebanon 102 projects and Germany 90 projects.
Others are Korea 58
projects, Italy 55 projects, Netherlands 51 projects, Switzerland 48 projects,
Canada 30 projects and France 29 projects. Nigeria tops the list of developing
countries with investment in the country with 39 projects, South Africa 26 and
Malaysia 12.
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ECOWAS-EU
Senior Ministers meet in Accra
Accra (Greater Accra)
23 April 2003- A two-day meeting of Senior Ministers from West Africa and the
European Union opened in Accra on Tuesday with a key aim of forging a common
front under the Cotonou Agreement.
It would review the
Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations and seek ways of instituting a critical
evaluation of West African integration programme. Opening the Meeting, Dr
Konadu Apraku, Out-going Minister of Trade and Industry noted that the process
calls for increased level of cohesion among ECOWAS states to enable them to go
into negotiations with the EU trade united under an ACP and ECOWAS guidelines
and mandate.
"It is essential
that we keep faith with the two-tier approach as adopted by ACP and ECOWAS
authorities and ensure that any progress towards the second tier negotiations
does not dislocate the rhythm of the overall ACP structure.
"Any conceptions
in that direction should be subjected to open and transparent consensus
building among our countries." The meeting is behind closed doors and
precedes the main EU-ACP Trade and Finance Ministers' Meeting in Accra on
Thursday.
Dr Apraku expressed
the group's dissatisfaction with current state of negotiations, indicating that
the apparent divergent points have given room for unease. He mentioned the
continued lack of clarity, and significant progress on the first tier
negotiations, saying it is a point of concern to the Ghana delegation.
"The critical
issues are market access, financing the cost of adjustment, rules of origin,
standards and framework for services trade and agriculture." He said
adjustment to funding requirements was of serious concern.
Dr Apraku said apart
from these concerns, studies by Ghana showed that only 25 per cent of her
industries could survive without supporting import tariffs while significant
import revenue would be lost to government. "To win negotiations ... we
need to effectively address the critical issues of production, supply and
distribution in our countries." This, he said, confirms that development
finance is thus crucial and informs the ACP's basic demand that development
should be at the heart of EPA negotiations.
GRi…/
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Aluworks
loss brings index down
Accra (Greater Accra)
23 April 2003- The Ghana Stock Exchange All-Share Index, the key measure of the
Accra Bourse, dipped by 5.15 points in trading after the Easter break on
Tuesday when Aluworks (ALW) lost 300 cedis to send it tumbling down.
The Index, which had
shown consistent sterling performances since the beginning of the year, dropped
to close at 1,717.43 points from last week's Wednesday's 1,722.58 points in a
dull market. A mere 28,200 shares changed hands in a dull market that saw
shares in only six equities traded compared to 213,800 shares at the previous
closing session. ALW lost 300 cedis to close at 4,000 cedis. Market
capitalisation was down at 7,684.38 billion cedis from 7,696.88 billion cedis
on Wednesday.
The following are the
last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 426
AGC 28,500
ALW 4,000 -300
BAT 1,300
CFAO
72
CPC 630
EIC
5,005
FML
2,201
GBL 531
GCB 5,400
GGL 1,218
HFC 1,230
MGL 258
MLC 312
MOGL
19,761
PAF 750
PBC 390
PZ 2,040
SCB 32,001
SPPC
390
SSB 6,621
SWL 285
TBL 5,010
UNIL
6,300
CMLT
460
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