GIPC registers 2,199 investment projects

Kumasi, Oct 26, GNA - The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) has since 1994 to date registered 2,199 investment projects, which are estimated to cost 4.496 billion dollars, Dr. Peter Ankrah, Director in-charge of the Promotions Division of GIPC, has disclosed.
He gave the breakdown of the amount as 4.057 billion dollars representing foreign component and 439 million dollars representing local component.
The projects, he said, cut across the service, general trade, export trade, liaison offices, manufacturing, building and construction, agriculture and tourism sectors.
Dr Ankrah was speaking at a day's investment seminar organised by the GIPC in collaboration with Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) in Kumasi on Wednesday.
The programme which was the eighth in a series of regional investment seminars initiated by GIPC, among other things, was aimed at sensitising district assemblies about the Centre's investment promotion functions and the role the assemblies are to play in attracting private investment to their areas.
It was also to educate the public particularly local investors and prospective investors in the region on investment regulations procedures and incentives as well as general policy direction of government.
Dr Ankrah expressed dissatisfaction about the regional distribution of investment projects which he said was heavily skewed in favour of Greater Accra, which has so far registered a total of 1,648 projects.
He said comparatively the Ashanti region, for instance, had registered a total of 134 projects, representing seven per cent of the grand total of investment projects the GIPC had registered nationwide. The Promotion division director indicated that given the enormous natural resource endowment in Ashanti there was the need for the RCC to step up efforts at improving upon the current situation with the view to facilitate investment and economic growth.
Dr. Ankrah charged rural enterprises to be proactive in attracting foreign investors to the country through joint venture collaboration, stressing that it was high time "We move away from the individualistic approach of doing business as expressed in our desire for sole proprietorships". He was hopeful that such a move would help strengthen linkages, outsourcing and clustering of industries in the country. Mr. Emmanuel Asamoah Owusu-Ansah, Ashanti Regional Minister, was optimistic that the seminar would educate the business community on government policy direction on investment whiles also providing a platform for fruitful exchanges on issues affecting the business communities in the region. 26 Oct. 06