By Edmund Mingle
The Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has
assured the business community of the government’s commitment to curb the high cost
of business operation in the country so as to support businesses to grow for
the benefit of the economy.
The reduction in the cost of doing business,
he said has become critical in ensuring that the country’s increasing economic growth
rate and low inflation translated into business growth and job creation for
Ghanaians.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur made these
known at a breakfast meeting with executives of business associations at the
Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
Among other things, the meeting was to provide
the platform for discussions of the concerns of the private sector as well as
the measures being taken by the government to address those concerns for the
private sector businesses to flourish.
In addition to the efforts at reducing cost
of doing business, the Vice President noted that the government acknowledged
the negative effects of bureaucracy on business operations, saying more was
being done to remove the bottlenecks.
He also touched on the effects of the
unreliable power supply, as well as the hikes in prices of petroleum products
on businesses, assuring that the power supply situation would improve, while
measures were being worked out to manage fuel prices for industries.
Regarding the high rate of government
borrowing which risks crowding out the private sector, Vice President
Amissah-Arthur noted although the financing of infrastructure projects was a
major challenge, effective measures such as Private-Private Partnership
arrangements were being promoted to rope in the private sector to invest in
such projects.
“We are also taking measures to avoid the
cycle of high fiscal deficit,” he said, adding that the high public sector wage
bill, which has been a bane of the economy, would be moderated.
He
expressed appreciation to the business groups for their cooperation and support
for the government, and noted that that gesture would be reciprocated by
effectively addressing their concerns.
Asare Akuffo, President of the Private
Enterprises Foundation (PEF) and Nana Owusu Afari, President of the Association
of Ghana Industries (AGI) who led the business group, both called for more
collaboration and interaction between the government and the private sector.
According to Mr. Akuffo, the private sector
was desirous of seeing the country’s growth rate translate into significant
growth of businesses so that they can complement efforts towards job creation
and infrastructure development.
“We want to have permanent solutions to
ensure that businesses grow to support job creation and economic stability,” he
said.
He assured the government of their
cooperation towards addressing the challenges hindering economic growth.
For his part, Nana Afari called for the
controlling of the importation of cheap goods which places locally manufactured
products at a disadvantage.
He was happy the government was shifting
focus from the public sector to a private sector led economy, and urged the
government to provide the necessary facilities and incentives to help the private
sector to function effectively.
Others at the meeting including the leaders
of the Chambers of Mines, Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ghana
Employers Association, while those on the government side included the
Ministers of Energy& Petroleum, Employment & Labour Relations, Trade
& Industry, Bank of Ghana acting Governor, as well as Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee on Trade.
END
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