Elmina (Central
Region) 07 December 2002- The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Paul Acquah,
on Friday stressed the need for policy reforms to arrest the current low levels
of investments and savings in the country.
According to him, it
is imperative that the country works hard to shift from the present levels of
between 10 and 15 per cent, to between 30 and 35 percent annually, in savings
and investments, as has been achieved by some East Asian countries.
Dr. Acquah, made the
call when he opened a four-day workshop on 'Stimulating new types of private
investments and revitalising the financial sector to provide necessary funding
to feed investments', at Elmina.
It is on the theme:
"Investments and finance in the golden age of Business" and has
brought together about 80 experts from the private and public sectors, such as
bankers, businessmen, industrialists, information and communication
technologists, and some foreign investors.
The workshop, is
being organised by the office of the Senior Minister and the Economic Management
Team, and has been necessitated by the fact that investment in the country, was
not growing at the pace expected by the government, for accelerated private
sector growth, to facilitate the 'Golden Age of Business'.
It is therefore,
geared towards tapping the expertise of the participants, towards the
initiation of the appropriate policy reforms for the creation of a more
enabling environment, for more investments for the growth of businesses.
Dr. Acquah noted that
as the nation's development strategy is focused on the promotion of the private
sector, it is essential for her to have the desired investment to catapult the
growth of that sector.
He said it is in view
of this that the experts need to brainstorm on the best policies that could be
evolved towards achieving this goal. For his part, Mr. Charles O. Nyanor,
chairman of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), who stood in for
the Senior Minister, J.H. Mensah, expressed concern that the trend of direct
foreign investment in the country, was not encouraging.
He bemoaned the fact
that there have even been times when no such investments were recorded at all
in the country, while it was realized that some foreign investors were rather
taking away their businesses.
He said it is in
regard of this, that it has become vital to ensure that the necessary policies
are put in place to arrest the situation, and called on the foreign investors
among the participants in particular, to advise the workshop as to how best the
country could attract and retain investments.
Topical issues being
deliberated on include ' private investment challenges, role of traditional
development banks, communication and information technology, building
infrastructure and growth opportunities and mobilising domestic long term
finances (both debt and equities) for new investment challenges'
GRi…/
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