The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) said on Thursday that, it recorded 95 new projects with an estimated value of $1.18 billion in the first three months of the year.

The value represents an increase of 67.98 per cent over the value recorded in the same period in 2011.

Presenting the figures at a press briefing, Mr George Aboagye, Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, said the foreign direct investment component of the estimated inflows of newly registered projects amounted to $979.85 million, up 178 per cent over $351.75 million in the corresponding period of 2011.

“The results of the first quarter of this year, give a good indication of the levels of foreign direct investments that the country will attract in 2012,” he said, adding that there is a heightened investors’ confidence in the economy despite the elections later this year.

The United States with a Foreign Direct Investment value of $407.21 million ranks first while China takes the top spot for the number of projects within the period.

Mr. Aboagye said total initial capital transfers for the quarter amounted to $43.27 million.

He said, of the 95 projects registered during the period, 52 were wholly-foreign owned enterprises with a value of $422.77 million while the remaining 43 projects were joint ventures between Ghanaians and foreign partners valued at $759.28 million.

Mr. Aboagye said 4,468 jobs were expected to be created from the 95 projects, a 36 per cent decline from 7,004 jobs to be created in the same period last year.

Ghanaians will take 3,997 of the total jobs to be created while the remaining 471 will go to expatriates.

Mr. Aboagye said results from the Centre’s on-going biennial re-registration exercise showed that, a total of 577 companies renewed their registration with the body in 2011.

These companies, he said, had created a total of 43,923 actual jobs from the registered projects, comprising 41,391 jobs for Ghanaians and 2,532 jobs for non-Ghanaians.

The jobs created were far more than the 24,028 jobs estimated during the time of registration.

Besides, the current investment at the time of re-registration by the companies stood at $982.91 million compared to the projected investment of $421.10 million recorded at the time of registration.

He said GIPC would step up its investments and trade delegation missions across the world to market opportunities in the country.

The Centre will also undertake nationwide investment tours to promote local indigenous investments between June 4 and July 27, to deliberate with the Regional Co-ordinating Councils, District Administrations and other stakeholders on how to attract investments into their areas.

The tours will also help identify investment opportunities in each region and call for project proposals, and to brief local investors on opportunities available for partnerships and joint ventures.

Mr Aboagye said, the GIPC was committed to its mandate of encouraging, promoting and facilitating investments, and expressed optimism that 2012 would be a good year to record significant levels of investments.**