Business News of Thursday, 26 January 2017

Source: B&FT

AGI meets with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo - Addo

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President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said, the most effective and efficient way to develop the country is through partnership with the private sector.

He has also made a commitment towards the task of creating a policy framework to establish a track record of consistency in growing the Ghanaian economy.

The president expressed those views during an interaction with a delegation from the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) that called on him at the seat of government on Wednesday January 25, 2017.

The AGI delegation was led by its president, James Asare-Adjei, and included its Chief Executive Seth Twum Akwaboah, some past presidents of the association as well as some of its current executives.

Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, Yeo Ziobeieton, Chief Executive Officer of Tullow Ghana, Charles Darko and Managing director of Nestle, Freda Duplan and other industry captains were part of the AGI delegation.

The association congratulated His Excellency on his election to the high office president of Ghana and assured of AGI’s commitment to a dialogue with his government on how to grow the private sector.

The association once again took the opportunity call on the government to address some issues which of great concern to its members with some bordering on export development, tax reduction, the reclassification of utility tariffs, provision of stable power and a commitment to work towards the reduction of interest rates were discussed.

They lauded the one - district one – factory policy initiative and implored the government to consult the association on the implementation process.

President Akufo-Addo on his part expressed gratitude for the AGI’s support and challenged them to explore new ways by which government and the private sector could work together more effectively to grow the economy.

According to the Presient his government was fully committed to a future where creativity and enterprise of the Ghanaian are unearthed and harnessed. was convinced that streamlining the national identification system of the country would go a long way to facilitate the formalization of economic activity in the country.

Minister designate for Trade & Industry, Alan Kyeremateng who was also in the meeting, said the government through the ministry was committed to improving the competitiveness of existing companies and hinted of a stimulus package to support selected companies consolidate their production base. He also signaled about the setting up of a project team to work on anchor industries.

Mr. Kyeremateng then encouraged the AGI that he was going to set up the expansion of Domestic Trade and the development of industrial parks in all 10 regions of the country while supporting small businesses, and introducing tax reforms and the facilitation of an annual public/private sector summit.

Meanwhile the AGI also expressed the desire to develop a platform for continuous engagement with government on private sector issues.