Mrs Mawuena Trebah, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) on Thursday launched the 2013/2014 version of the Ghana Club (GC) 100 awards in Accra.

She used the occasion to call on businesses, which are interested, to join the club and make their audited finances available to the committee in charge of the awards.

Mrs Trebah said the audited account is one of the main criteria for which companies would be assessed for classification into the club.

The event, which would be held on October 23, 2015 at the State Banquet Hall, begun in 1988 as the GIPC sought to compile the list of top 100 companies in Ghana to give due recognition to successful enterprises building.

Mrs Trebah said companies, which would make it to the GC100 were expected to serve as role models for the private sector and provide a forum for corporate Ghana to interact with Government at the highest level.

Mrs Trebah said the awards, which would be organized under the patronage of President John Dramani Mahama, would be on the theme: “Impact Investments and Sustainable Economic Development”.

The GIPC will award the top 100 businesses and also award the leading companies in each of the strategic sectors, such as Best Company in Agriculture and Agribusiness; Financial Services; Information and Communication Technology; Services; Infrastructure; Petroleum and Mining Services; Manufacturing; Tourism; Health; and Education.

She said there would also be Special Awards for outstanding business performers in selected categories, including Corporate Social Responsibility and the Highest Tax Paying Company.

She urged companies, which are interested in participating to do so, as the deadline had been extended to Friday August 28, 2015.

Mrs Trebah said preceding the awards; the GIPC would hold the “Invest in Ghana, 2015 Conference at Movenpick Hotel, to serve as the platform for international investors, experts, managers of financial institutions, Ghanaian decision makers, development partners among others, to interact on how they could contribute in developing the private sector.

“Invest in Ghana, 2015 is a turnkey event focusing on Ghana’s investment potential and its development”.

She urged companies, which wants to take part to submit a 125 worded profile or description of the company, hard or soft copies of the passport size pictures of the Chief Executive Officer and an audited account from 2011 to 2014 to the offices of the GIPC in Accra, Kumasi or Takoradi or through the internet.

Mr Daniel Ababio, Manager for Advisory Services, Ernst and Young, intimated that all entrants must be limited liability companies as well as be devoid of Government intervention or with limited Government stake of less than 50 per cent and must also have positive net for three consecutive years.

He said the main criteria for making it unto the list was the financial strength of the companies, which would be submitted by the companies and would verified by Ernst and Young and not the size of the companies as some people perceive.