Ho, May 30, GNA - The Ho Municipal area would soon have a garment factory and investment in real estate development, both by some Chinese and a world class mineral water production by some Italian investors. Mr. Mawutor Goh, Ho Municipal Chief Executive announced this at the second meeting of the Assembly on Wednesday. He said research by an Italian company has shown that the long stretch of mountain called the Kabakaba hills overlooking Ho town has a large reservoir of high quality international standard mineral water good for even babies.

Mr Goh said the Italians were sourcing for funds from the European Union for the establishment of the joint venture project to be known as the Kabakaba Hills Mineral Water Development Company Limited. He said the Assembly was sorting out issues with the Forestry Commission and the Tanyigbe Atidze community over the area where the water would be tapped to pave the way for the Italians to move in quickly.

Mr Goh said a Chinese investor has also been in contact with the Assembly over the establishment of a garment factory in the municipality, which has been on the drawing board for some time now under the President's Special Initiative on garments. He said a Chinese company, 99 China Construction has also approached the Assembly to undertake estate development in the municipality and that further discussions were scheduled for next week. Mr Goh said the Assembly has set aside 30 acres of land for the project, which would build houses, some of which would be available on hire-purchase by public and civil servants over a 15 year period. "We are working hard to see these projects through in a short time", he told the Ghana News Agency. 30 May 08.

NECO 07 Economics Unions EPA Avoid country level negotiations on EPAs - Working Group

Accra, May 30, GNA - The sub-regional Working Group on Trade and Development, a trade union grouping, has called on member states of ECOWAS to avoid country-level negotiations with the European Union on the Economic Partnership Agreement and rather return to a regional negotiation framework. In addition, the group is calling for a moratorium on the EPA negotiations in order to ensure that the eventual outcomes of new trade relations are consistent with development and regional integration objectives of the sub-region. Mr. Kingsley Ofei-Nkansah, Deputy General Secretary General Agriculture Workers Union, said the agreement committed government to liberalise an overwhelming proportion of its imports from the EU without clear cut policy as to which sectors would be affected. Ghana's interim agreement provides for the immediate abolition of tariffs on virtually all exports to Europe and for the gradual dismantling over 15 years of tariffs on 80 per cent of imports from the 27-member bloc. The remaining 20 per cent of imports is deemed "sensitive products" which will be subject to tariffs even after the 15-year transition period to promote economic development, food security, employment and government revenue generation. By the terms of the agreement, the government committed itself to a schedule by which different tariffs on categories of products would be removed at different times.

Mr Ofei-Nkansah said there was the need for a deepening of the regional integration process and the implementation and enforcement of existing integration protocols before a free trade area is created. Ghana is the second West African country to sign an interim agreement, as developing countries rush to prevent disruption in their exports to the EU, the world's biggest trading bloc.

Neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire was the first in the region to initial an interim trade deal in goods, in a move, some said broke ranks with the position of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that the deadline should be extended to allow for broader negotiations. But ECOWAS Commission has maintained that the community supported specific interim arrangements to allow exports of goods only to continue, so long as they did not pre-empt talks on a broader regional EPA text.

While encouraging interim trade deals by individual countries, ECOWAS expected to see those countries in solidarity with the "common position" of the bloc in its call for an extension of the deadline and the removal of some of the proposals deemed inimical to the region's investment rules and integration process.