Cabinet has approved the formation of an Inter-ministerial Committee to provide policy guidance towards boosting the inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to promote trade and economic growth.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta who announced this when he presented the 2020 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, said the mandate of the Committee was to put in place a Comprehensive Strategy and Plan of Execution on attracting FDI flows.
It would also identify and package all the various initiatives and policies that were already in place to help make Ghana an attractive place to do business and thus attract FDI flows.
“We have so far attracted investments and commercial interests from global automotive companies, including Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Sinotruck, and Suzuki,” the Minister pointed out.
The Government had also built a strategic partnership that could be leveraged to attract the FDIs, he said.
These included Africa Investment Forum (AIF), Compact with Africa, the US “Prosper Africa”, UK-Ghana Business Council, EU-Africa Business, China’s FOCAC, Japan’s TICAD, Korea’s KOAFEC, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Singapore, among others”.
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Bill would be amended to align with international best practice, while the GIPC would be restructured and better resourced with human and financial capital.
He said the Government was already beginning to leverage its advantages to generate a lot of interest in the country from global multinational companies.
“All the measures on business regulatory environment and the FDI agenda are part of a broader and ambitious strategy to make Ghana a gateway to business in West Africa, and Africa in general – “a business, financial, and logistics hub in the region”.
The Government would continue to take deliberate and strategic steps to accelerate the nation’s economic transformation, he said.
“The goal, which was consistent with the medium-term aspirations of the Ghana Beyond Aid Programme, is to use resources creatively and efficiently to build “a prosperous and self-confident Ghana that is in charge of her economic destiny; a transformed Ghana that is prosperous enough to be beyond needing aid, and that engages competitively with the rest of the world through trade and investment”.
GNA
