Dutch Minister Commends Kufuor's Government

The Dutch Foreign Minister for Trade, Mr. Gerrit Ybema, has commended the Kufuor administration for putting in place, correct decisions that are leading to the resuscitation of the economy, following the fragile legacy it inherited from the previous administration.

"Last year was a rough year for the Ghanaian economy, but with the correct political decisions, GDP is forecast to start picking up in 2001."

He has also described the Kufuor government as inspiring trust and confidence. He made these observations in a speech he delivered at a seminar held at the Golden Tulip Hotel yesterday.

Leading a delegation of Dutch business men and women to explore investment opportunities in Ghana, the foreign minister expressed optimism that the privatisation and liberalisation of the Ghanaian economy are likely to accelerate since the new government has declared a preference for creating an environment to make Ghanaian enterprises more competitive. The visit of the delegation also coincides with 300 years of relationship between the two countries.

The minister, who had also paid a visit to the Ghana Textile Printing Company over the weekend, said that the Dutch government is primarily interested in Ghana because they regard the local business community as an excellent motor, which can drive the economic development of the country.

He also intimated that economic co-operation between the companies of both countries can lead to new investments, to the transfer of knowledge or to a growing market; adding that this can lead to rapid economic growth.

He decried the situation in which developing countries are not given access to the markets of developed countries and called for liberalising trade in the international context.

"I believe that the developing countries must be given the opportunity to reach a truly equivalent position within the world trade system. Trade restrictions oppose innovation and the growth of prosperity. They create stagnation, rather than dynamism. And no one benefits from this, neither the rich countries, nor the developing countries; but it is the particularly the latter who benefit if their products can be sold in other countries without hindrance."

In spite of this, Netherlands has confidence in the Ghanaian potential, says the Minister. This according to him is emphasised by the great deal of interest in Ghana exhibited by Dutch entrepreneurs from various sectors of industry.

In his speech, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, acknowledged that since independence, Netherlands has always stood by Ghana and was among the first countries to provide Ghana with the grant to support her economic recovery programme when most developed countries were reluctant to come to her aid.

He said that the vision of the NPP government is one of accelerated and sustained economic growth that provides equal opportunities for all Ghanaians. "We believe that a free enterprise economy is the surest guarantee for economic growth and prosperity." He also invited the Dutch business community to invest in construction, transportation, energy, tourism and agriculture, adding that these are areas in which the Netherlands has demonstrated its comparative strength and capacity.

One topical issue that the Dutch delegates were frank about but nevertheless expressed the hope to assist was the fact that the coffers of the Ghanaian banks are depleted but added that this should not deter foreign investors from coming to invest as Ghana should be seen as a great nation in the making and those who take the advantage of investing in her would not be making a mistake.

A legal practitioner and executive secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, who was a resource person at the seminar, said corruption is a worldwide phenomenon but added that it must be tackled with strategies tailored to the local situation. In this vein, he has described the call to 'zero tolerance' of corruption by the current administration as a step in the right direction but that, it can be construed as an earthshaking Ghanaian discovery.

He stressed that the debilitating effects of corruption are most pronounced in transitional systems like Ghana's precisely because of internal weaknesses including a lack of political will, inadequate institutional structures, entrenched patronage, incoherent private sector and disrespect for the rule of law.

Undoubtedly, no investor would want to invest in a country that is known to be corrupt, but Mr. Asamoah said the government is in a potentially unique position to benefit from the partnership approach to fighting corruption because the foundation has been laid. "Ghana boasts of a potentially viable cross- sectoral coalition against corruption. But its effect is still only potential because there are misgivings that the governments' notion of zero tolerance stops at morality and internal self-regulation.

He therefore called on the executive branch to latch onto the opportunity presented by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) to develop and enforce standards together in tune with best practices worldwide.