Apraku assures business community of credit facility
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 September 2001 - Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, on Thursday said the government would not relent in its efforts to remove distortions in the economy to achieve macro-economic stability and enhance private sector growth.
It is only when inflation, high interest rates and rapid depreciation of the cedi were corrected that the risk of doing business in the country would be reduced and investor confidence restored.
"It is our primary responsibility and we are making the necessary difficult choices to ensure that the economy is put on the right path," Dr Apraku said at a seminar for the visiting South Africa trade delegation on investment opportunities in Ghana.
The 45-member delegation, mainly members of the Black Business Executive Circle, arrived on Wednesday to hold discussions with their Ghanaian counterparts on tourism, construction, aviation, information technology and financial services during its one-week visit.
Dr Apraku said the government would do whatever was necessary to permit a private sector-led growth and mentioned the Export Development and Investment Fund as one of the means through which the government intended to assist the private sector.
He assured the delegation of a stable political environment, which he described as an added attraction to investment in the country. "Despite our political differences, competition and bickering, Ghanaians are prepared to reduce arbitrariness so as not to send wrong signals to investors," the Minister said.
Dr Apraku mentioned cocoa, fruit and gold processing, garments, textiles and tourism as areas of investment that were of interest to the government. Mr Kofi Kludjeson, President of the Association of Ghana Industries, expressed the hope that the seminar would expose the delegation to what the country could offer to attract investment.
He said Ghanaian industrialists were willing to tap the expertise of their South African counterparts for their mutual benefit.
GRi../
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 September 2001 - The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku on Thursday assured the business community that the government was working hard to solve its credit crunch problems.
It was to address these problems that the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) has been established, he said, adding that plans were far advanced for the creation of the Ghana Investment Fund (GIF).
"These funds will not only ameliorate the credit crunch but also, more importantly resolve the supply side constraints facing our exporters," Dr Apraku said at the launch of the Ghana Export Guidebook in Accra.
The book entitled: "Trade Secrets - The Export Answer book for Small and Medium Sized Exporters" addresses issues relating to product quality, packaging, use of the Internet, electronic commerce and other information technology-related trade issues.
The Minister reiterated the government's belief in the private sector as the engine of growth saying that President John Agyekum Kufuor has taken initiatives to assist Ghanaian businessmen take advantage of the numerous opportunities that exist in the export sector.
Dr Apraku said the current economic problems facing the country should serve as a challenge to everybody, especially exporters, to work hard to expand the export base.
This should be to increase earnings from the non-traditional exports from 400 million dollars to over 3.4 billion dollars in the next four years as envisaged in President Kufuor's special initiative on cassava and starch production and garments and textiles for export.
GRi../
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