Need for strong partnership between govt and private sector -

Kufuor

Accra, Oct.29, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday stressed the need for a vibrant partnership between the Government and the Private Sector to develop the economy.

He said the policy of Golden Age of Business was to provide a platform for both the Government and the Private Sector to work together to move the economy forward.

President Kufuor made the call when a delegation from the Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF) paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.

He expressed appreciation for the bi-monthly meeting between the Executive Council of the PEF and Sector Ministries involved in dealing with the Private Sector.

These were the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiative (PSI) and Ministry of Private Sector Development.

President Kufuor said such regular meetings should create the needed wealth for the country's socio-economic development.

"We should all continue to dialogue because we are all stakeholders in the country's development", he said.

President Kufuor commended the Management of Barclays Bank (Ghana) for reducing their lending rates, adding "this is a morale booster for the economy and other banks should emulate them".

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said discussions between the Government and the Private Sector had been fruitful and for the first time in the country's history, more than three months foreign exchange reserve had been made available to assist the Sector in its operations.

He said liquidity to the Sector was still a problem but with prudent fiscal and monetary policies of the Government there would be a remarkable improvement within the first quarter of next year to boost their operations.

Mr Osafo-Maafo stressed the need to link productivity to wages and salaries and called for the debate advocated by President Kufuor to ensure that Ghanaians were paid the appropriate remuneration for their work.

He said the Procurement Bill currently before Parliament for ratification was very protective of Ghanaian industries and goods produced in Ghana.

Mr Allan Kyerematen, Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiative (PSI), said the main thrust of the Ministry was to promote made in Ghana goods.

He, therefore, appealed to the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Chamber of Commerce to liaise together and provide a forum to facilitate the marketing and distribution of goods produced in Ghana.

Mr Kyerematen called on the Executive Council of PEF to appoint representatives to the various ECOWAS Protocols on Trade, Investments and other Economic institutions to make the necessary inputs that would promote activities of the Ghanaian entrepreneur in the West Africa Sub-Region.

Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Private Sector Development, commended the PEF for initiating measures for the repatriation of their profits through the importation of machinery and equipment to improve on their operations.

He suggested that provision of utilities to premises of investors should be incorporated in their initial investments as an advance but not additional expenses on their operations to the utility providers. Mrs Elizabeth Joyce Villars, President of PEF, enumerated achievements made from the series of meetings held between the PEF and Government for the past eight months since the bi-monthly meetings began.

She expressed optimism that most of the decisions taken at their meetings would be incorporated in next year's budget to make Ghana a true investments destination within the Sub-Region.