<<Print>>

As investment promotion world-wide becomes keener by the day, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has begun moves to rid itself of some business bureaucratic tendencies that tend to stifle investment growth and opportunities by presently rolling out the red carpet. As a result, the GIPC says as investors (whether a Ghanaian or non-Ghanaian) comes through with specific interests and projects, they are assured of personal guidance �through the process in its entirety,� so that �the investor understands what their legal obligations are, what the regulatory obligations are and supporting them to develop a realistic roll-out plan�. Delivering a presentation on why the country is the best place for investors to do business during the closing session of the UK-Ghana Trade & Investment Forum at the Grosvenor Square Hotel in London, she stressed that improving incentives, reducing red tape and promoting greater flexibility in the business environment was key to stimulating investor confidence and business growth. �Investment promotion now is extremely competitive and if we�re coming with our A game as a country, what happens is that the competition will respond to the investor more efficiently. So what we are doing is to remain very close with the various sector ministries so as investors come through with specific interests and specific projects we are able to hold the hand of the investor; whether it�s a Ghanaian or a non-Ghanaian and walk them through the process in its entirety�.that is what we mean by cutting away the red tape. And also ensuring that the investor understands what their legal obligations are, what the regulatory obligations are and supporting them to develop a realistic roll-out plan; the timings that are needed for permitting, the timings that are required to get your licenses, timings that are required to put together the right base of human resource, supporting them through that process. That is why our own internal restructuring has been very important�and that�s where the bureaucracy hopefully pass away,� Mrs Mawuena Trebarh said. Touching on what she termed �Prosperity Partnership�, the GIPC CEO said, Ghana is �not just calling for investment�, pointing out that the aim of the country�s current investment drive is not just to protect only the interest of the investor in terms of their profitability but also what will �help us to progress as a nation�. �We believe that the investor must be one who understands the new Ghana. The new Ghana is very representative of the new Africa�.we want investment that will translate into development. We must ensure that in the end the investment will protect not only the interest of the investor in terms of their profitability but will also translate into jobs, into new skills, into technology transfer, those things that will help us to progress as a nation�that is the agenda of the goal. �We must move away from being known as the country with the best cocoa. We must also be known as the country with the best chocolate. We must look at our tourism and hospitality sector�the pressure on our existing hospitality facilities has to be addressed�.it�s a very strategic view just the way the National Development Plan is and it has to transcend every political ideology. In the end, if it�s prosperity, it should be prosperity for all Ghanaians. That is the reason why we�ve married our investment promotions initiatives; we�ve done the knocking, they�ve accepted the drinks and we�re already at the altar committed to a marriage with the National Development Plan so that our investment initiatives will result in long term development,� she revealed.