Report on Special Tax regime out in September
Government is committed to the Gateway Project -Aliu
Barry Callebaut starts production at Tema EPZ
Ho (Volta Region) 23 August 2001
The Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF) would publish a report on the impact of the special tax regime on local industries in September to enable the government to assess its effectiveness on certain imported items and commodities.
The tax was introduced last year to support local industries, the Senior Economist of the Foundation, Moses Agyemang announced on Wednesday at a seminar on bookkeeping sponsored by USAID for 40 small-scale entrepreneurs in the Volta Region at Ho.
Agyemang said the special tax system might be reviewed in line with international trade practices.
He said while the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regarded the special tax as protectionist, the state of most industries in Ghana made it necessary for some form of policy to facilitate their growth.
Agyemang said the PEF would assist the government to formulate policies to achieve the aim of supporting the local industries without infringing on WTO's regulations.
The PEF was founded in 1994 to cater for the training of personnel of small-scale industries that are unable to bear training costs.
He said since its inception PEF has trained more than 400 small-scale entrepreneurs in business management.
GRi../
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Tema (Greater Accra) 23 August 2001
The government says it is committed to the Ghana Gateway Project, started by the previous government, and would ensure the development of the Tema Export Processing Zone (TEPZ) to attract investors to establish there.
"The project is dear to our hearts and we cannot allow the huge investments made to go waste. We want to see how we can solve problems facing the development of the enclave in order to achieve targets set for the project", Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama said on Wednesday.
Alhaji Mahama, who is also the Chairman of the Gateway Oversight Committee, made the pledge when he paid a familiarisation tour of the Free Zones Area.
The World Band and Ghana Government are financing the project estimated at about 45 million dollars to improve facilities at the airports and harbours and organise in-service training for personnel in these institutions and Custom, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).
Thirty-five million dollars of the amount is for the provision of infrastructure at the enclave.
Alhaji Mahama said the project was expected to bring about efficiency and modernisation at entry ports in the country and asked all stakeholders involved in the project to submit their proposals and commitment to the government before officials of the Bank arrive next month for a review of the project.
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, said the tour would offer the Committee an opportunity to design a critical mass of infrastructure to help Ghana become the gateway and the starting point of all investments in the West African Sub-region.
Michael Asafo-Boakye, Chief Executive of Asafo-Boakye and Partners (ABP) Consult Limited, Consulting Engineers on the project said an efficient infrastructure system was required to operate the enclave.
He said contract for access roads in the enclave estimated at 33 billion cedis, to be completed within 15 months, was signed in June and work has began.
Work on the water supply and waste disposal at a cost of 69 billion cedis at the enclave expected to be completed within two years has also began and both projects were in progress.
Asafo-Boakye appealed to the Gateway Oversight Committee to make provision for financial institutions, restaurant operators, dealers in petroleum products and other social service providers to acquire land within the enclave to operate.
Mohamad Pauzi, Manager of Business Focus Ghana limited, said his company has spent about five million dollars to provide initial infrastructure at the site.
About 20 companies from Malaysia that have expressed interest to establish within the enclave were assessing the situation to ensure that all basic infrastructure have been put in place before they invest.
On the cost of structures, Pauzi said it ranges between 149,000 dollars for the construction of a detached factory to 446,000 dollars to a terrace factory type of building.
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Tema (Greater Accra) 23 August 2001
Barry Callebaut, the world's largest user of cocoa beans and the first to establish a factory at the Tema Export Processing Zone (EPZ), has begun processing cocoa beans into unrefined cocoa liquor for export to France.
Jack Sinclair, Managing Director of Barry Callebaut Ghana Limited, told the media on Wednesday that the 10 million- dollar-factory, with the capacity to process 30,000 metric tonnes of beans a year under phase one of its programme, would soon double its production with an additional investment of 10 million dollars.
Barry Callebaut, which has 24 cocoa processing and chocolate factories worldwide with the biggest in the US and Belgium, was in Ghana to serve the needs of its companies and not to compete with the Cocoa Processing Companies (CPC) at Tema and Takoradi, he said.
The factory uses modern state of the art machinery and employs 60 workers.
Barry Callebaut currently processes between 410,000 and 420,000 tonnes of cocoa beans annually.
Ferrucio Conti of Italy, manufacturers of high quality shoes would start production at the Tema EPZ by November.
GRi../
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