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Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice-Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party in the 2012 Presidential elections has stated that with the right policies aimed at growth and production, Ghana could become the manufacturing hub of West Africa. Dr. Bawumia stated these while delivering an address at the NPP USA Congress over the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Addressing the party faithful domiciled in the United States, Dr. Bawumia bemoaned, the high import duties which was aimed at increasing revenue but not growth and production and which eventually makes Ghana less competitive globally. �In response to the economic difficulties, government has resorted to increasing taxes, including until recently, imposing taxes on condoms and cutlasses. These higher taxes have served to increase the cost of doing business in Ghana compared with neighboring countries. A Minister of State in response to complaints from the business community about import duties is reported to have said that if they are not happy, they can import through Togo or other countries! This type of approach to dealing with the business environment is counterproductive and demonstrates a lack of appreciation of the private sector. The fact is import duties in Ghana are too high and discourage production. In the globally competitive world that we find ourselves today most countries that manufacture goods for export also import a significant proportion of its raw materials. These countries have come to understand that high import tariffs can increase their cost of production and make them uncompetitive globally and therefore to support higher production and exports, import tariffs are kept relatively low. Examples are: Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore which have 0% import tariffs; New Zealand which has an average import tariff of 1%; Australia and Estonia � 2%; Japan and Canada � 3%; USA, UAE and Malaysia with an average of 5%� Dr. Bawumia stated that the trend in the aforementioned countries was in sharp contrast to the situation in other countries like Ghana which had an average import tariff of 15%. �The rationale for high import duties in Ghana is primarily to raise revenue and not to support production. 22.5% of tax revenue in Ghana is from trade taxes. This compares to 2.69% for Brazil, 4.44% for China, 3.96% for South Africa and 1.25% for the USA. The high reliance on import duties for revenue by countries such as Ghana only serves to increase the cost of doing business and discourage production. The NPP�s view as reflected in our 2012 manifesto is that tariff policy should be guided by lowering the cost of living and increasing production and productivity. Countries that have adopted this approach such as the UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Indonesia (accompanied by other supporting policies) have seen increased manufactured exports. This is why we committed in 2012 to abolishing or significantly reducing import tariffs. We do not see any reason why spare parts and other equipment used in production that are imported into the country because they are not manufactured in the country should attract any import duty. This should expand the productivity in places such as Suame Magazine and other mechanic facilities across the country as well as reduce the cost of maintaining and safety of vehicles. Ghana can become a manufacturing power house in the sub-region if we go this route and along with other supportive policies.� Dr. Bawumia noted that the high reliance on import duties for revenue is because the tax base is very narrow which is also as a result of the fact that the Ghanaian economy is still highly informal. He noted that the absence of a national identification system for all Ghanaians till date as a result of the failure of the National Identification Authority to fulfill its mandate after 5 years of existence; the absence of a property address system and the predominance of cash transactions underpin the informal nature of the Ghanaian economy and said tackling these issues would transform the economy and make it easier for more revenue to be generated and support the growth of business and the economy. Finally, Dr. Bawumia also touched on the problem of land acquisition and the absence of land titles for many properties. �Mr. Chairman, one of the most important issues that has to be dealt with to facilitate rapid economic development in Ghana is the issue of the problem of land acquisition the absence of land titles for many of the properties people are actually living in. I am sure everyone here has their own nightmare story about trying to acquire land or build a house in Ghana. This problem means that the mortgage and housing market is very shallow and undeveloped. If you do not have title to a house or land then how do you sell it or mortgage it? For Ghana this means that the effective supply of land or housing to the market is limited relative to demand. Under these circumstances, you will find houses in Ghana selling for ridiculous amounts of money relative to say houses in the USA. You would probably be surprised to learn that, from a survey of 103 countries, a comparison of Mortgage payments as a percentage of average incomes places Ghana at the top with 577%, followed by Georgia (571%), Belarus (568%) and Cambodia (445%) . The countries with the lowest mortgage as a percentage of income include the United States (16.4%), Saudi Arabia (22.59%), South Africa (34.6%%), Germany (34.7%) and Canada (36.6%). In terms of house price to income ratio, Ghana is also in the top 10. Ghana also tops the list of 103 countries as the least affordable when the affordability index is used. These numbers are worrying because the property market plays a very important role in the economy of any modern developed economy. Finding a solution to this problem would jump start the mortgage market in a big way. Solving this problem would increase the supply of houses by the private sector, empower the poor who would be able to borrow against the collateral of their houses, and result in a housing sector led boom in the economy and higher tax revenue for government�