Mills’ BETTER GHANA agenda on course

All things being equal, the Mills government would be creating over 3,000 new jobs
between 2011 and 2012 thanks to an aggressive and successful marketing drive that
was embarked upon by Vice-President John Mahama in the Czech Republic last week with
the support of Ghana’s Ambassador to that country, Ambassador Victor Smith.
The success of the marketing drive lies in the eagerness of the government of the
Czech Republic and big time private Czech businesses to come and invest in Ghana.
Successful meetings with the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Necas and
later the President, Vaclav Klaus, saw the Czech government expressing eagerness to
come down to Ghana next year to see to the revamping of factories that were set up
by the Ghana government in the early 1960s with the assistance of the Czech
Republic.
The factories include the Asutsuare Sugar cane factory, the Aboso Glass factory and
the Kumasi Sugar factory. These factories would create a total of over 3,000 new
jobs for Ghanaians when revamped.
Also interested in coming to invest in the Ghanaian economy are big time private
Czech business especially those in the energy and heavy machinery producing sectors.
The visit of Vice-President John Mahama to the Czech Republic was indeed an
aggressive four- days marketing of investment opportunities in Ghana that left him
with no time to relax.
What is certain to excite Ghanaians when it comes into fruition is the
Vice-President’s determination to make Czech tram cars part of Ghana’s
transportation system.
Built like a train, the tram cars can be seen throughout the Czech capital, Prague.
They help complement the normal transport system, easing vehicular traffic on the
roads and getting commuters to their destinations easily without stress.
The visit of the Vice-President to Czech was a serious business affair that left him
and his entourage with no time to rest.
Indeed, it was a programme that nearly never was after it was announced earlier that
the Vice-President could not make the trip because of his tight schedule in Ghana.
But with the Czech President cancelling a visit to the Vatican just to meet
Vice-President John Mahama, President Mills, himself attaching seriousness to the
marketing of investment opportunities in Ghana to the Czechs, dispatched his
Second-In-Command to go embark on the investment drive.
On arrival in Prague in the morning of Tuesday, November 8, 2010, the
Vice-President, from the airport, went straight to the Clarion Congress hotel where
he opened the Ghana-Czech Trade & Investment Forum. Both he and Ambassador Victor
Smith, with ease, explained to the Czech businesses why Ghana is the place to invest
in and expect good returns.
Later, the forum broke into group meetings with each group made up of both Ghanaian
and Czech private businesses.
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Dzifa Attivor, the Chief Executive Officers of the
Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Free Zones Board (FZB) and the Tema
Oil Refinery (TOR), Messrs George Aboagye, Twum Boafo and Ato Ampiah respectively
took part in the group discussions.
Capt (rtd) Prince Amoabeng of UT Financial Services and UT Bank was also part of the
group meetings. At the end, deals profitable to the Ghanaian economy were brokered.
What is left are the follow-ups to implement the deals.
Day two of Vice-President John Mahama’s stay in the Czech Republic saw him visiting
the Czech Government House where he held very fruitful talks with the Czech Prime
Minister, Petr Necas.
From the Government House, the Vice-President proceeded to The Presidency where the
Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, was patiently waiting.
The President reiterated the importance of Ghana-Czech relations and pledged to
support all that had been discussed between John Mahama and the Czech Prime
Minister.
Later that day, the Vice-President met Ghanaians living in the Czech Republic. The
meeting took place in Ghana’s Embassy. The interaction between the Veep and
Ghanaians living in the Czech Republic was fruitful. He answered questions agitating
their minds and received a standing ovation at the end.
The third and final day of John Mahama’s investment drive in the Czech Republic saw
him travelling to the town of Plzen about eighty miles away from Prague.
His first point of call on arrival was the Offices of the Mayor of Plzen after which
he visited the Offices of Skoda Transport, manufacturers of the tram cars. Fruitful
discussions held between the Vice-President and the management of Skoda Transport
saw both sides agreeing to ensure that Ghana also benefits from tram cars.
The next stop of Vice-President John Mahama was Skoda Power which produces electric
energy. From there, the Veep visited the University of West Bohemia where
discussions held saw both sides agreeing to meet again to explore ways that Ghanaian
students, especially students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science &
Technology ,will come over to study engineering at the University which is
affiliated to the Skoda companies.
It indeed was a fruitful marketing drive, the brain-child of Ambassador Victor Smith
and one certain to bring businesses to Ghana and create more jobs as envisaged in
President Mills’ BETTER GHANA agenda.