The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has embarked on a regional investment sensitisation workshop with a call for projects and programmes.

The workshop is to brief the Regional Coordinating Councils and other stakeholders on the services and the new direction of the Centre in line with the GIPC’s vision to discuss the development of strategies to attract the most appropriate investments into their areas of jurisdiction.

It also aims at identifying investment opportunities in each region for promotion and calls for project proposals for listing in the Centre’s project catalogue; and to brief local investors on opportunities for joint ventures and other forms of business collaborations.

The sensitiation tour is also to encourage local investors to register with the Centre to enable them to benefit from incentives provided by the investment in the GIPC Act 865 of 2013.

Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, at the Greater Accra regional sensitisation workshop on Wednesday, said the programme presents an opportune platform for local investors and Coordinators of Regional Coordinating Councils, to deliberate on the preferred investment areas that each Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA) and local companies may wish to present to it for promotion.

He said this was to encourage and prepare indigenous Ghanaian companies to take advantage of the provisions in the Local Content law, which requires that a Foreign Investor cedes a minimum of 10 per cent share to the local company as partner.

According to him, MMDAs were the authorities responsible for coordinating and harmonising the design and preparation of development plans for the regions, and their role in the project call by the GIPC, was critical to ensure that the Local Content Law becomes fully beneficial to Ghanaian companies located within the regions.

Mr Odamtten said the sensitisation therefore creates a platform for participants to deliberate on how best businessmen and women, as well as MMDAs of the region could attract a lot more investments into their operations, since the region has not yet benefitted optimally from Foreign Direct Investments into the country.

Mr Odamtten said the Centre, per its mandate under the new GIPC Act, (ACT 865) of 2013, was to encourage and promote investments, provide the creation of an attractive framework and a transparent, predictable and facilitating environment for investments and for related matters.

He said each MMDA would have to fashion out its investment development plans for its local business enterprises to buy into; and also prepare conducive grounds for expansion through the necessary partnerships.

He called on the various Planners, Economists and Budget Officers of the MMDAs to help identify development projects, which could be comfortably marketed by the GIPC as Public Private Partnership and help develop proposals and business plans for marketing on their behalf, free of charge by the Center to enhance the overall development of their respective districts and the region as a whole.

Dr Richard Adjei, a Deputy Director at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, gave a presentation on the various investment incentives and guarantees provided under the GIPC Act 865 of 2013, saying it offers a five-year tax incentives and exemptions for both Agro-businesses as well as for location of companies for both local and foreign investors, to ensure the spread of development.

He encouraged local investors to take advantage of the opportunities and incentives offered and endeavour to enhance their negotiation skills through strengthened partnerships and formation of linkages among sectors with the GIPC at the forefront, to promote the selected companies for effective marketing.