President Mills angered by tardiness of the Ghanaian business community

President Mills angered by tardiness of the Ghanaian business community
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, July 22, Ghanadot - The President, H.E Professor John Evans Atta Mills has condemned the Ghanaian business community for not being time conscious, saying “They must eschew lateness and other acts which are counter productive, if not investors coming into the country would loose faith in them”.

He added emphatically that as the “global economic is going through hard times, capital will move to areas where it feels safe to grow.

"For capital to move to us, we must be time conscious, diligent, transparent and accountable, among others,” he said.

The President expressed these displeasures at opening of this year’s Ghana Investment Forum in Accra, yesterday.

The forum, which was scheduled to take place at the main conference room of the Accra International Centre had to shift two times to small a room known as conference room 2 because most of the players of Ghanaian business community who had registered for the programme did not turn up.

Also, the President and his entourage and other Ministers of State, including the Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, the Minister of Communications, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu and the Minister of Information, Mrs. Zita Okai Koi arrived at the forum before most of the participants.

This behaviour did not go down well with the President and some government officials, who blamed the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) for poor organizational skills.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GIPC, Mr. George Aboagye, in his welcome address rendered apologies upon apologies to help heal the deep wounds caused by the poor attendance.

He admitted that “We haven’t done well. Please Mr. President forgive us”.

Touching on the significance of the forum, Mr. Aboagye noted that the main objective of the forum is to offer a platform for investors to engage with government officials, captains of industry and investment facilitators for the enhancement of a conducive business environment for the benefit of all.

According to him, the forum would concentrate on key sectors including, agricultural, financial services, Information Communications Technology (ICT), manufacturing, petroleum and mining services and tourism.

Delivering the keynote address, President Mills asked the GIPC to further improve the business environment, sharpen competitiveness, and ultimately enable all investors derive maximum returns from their investments.

“Of course, in all things, the ultimate aim is for Ghana to also benefit. The national interest will always take precedence over any sectarian interest(s)”, he stressed.

President Mills indicated that the government’s main policy in the area of agriculture is to a strong commitment to modernizing farming methods to ensure food security, the provision of adequate storage facilities, supplying of raw materials to industry, among others.

He was quick to add that it was the belief of government that increased private sector investments in the agricultural sector would serve as the major driving force for the growth of the Ghanaian economy and thereby building a Better Ghana.

To demonstrate our commitment, the government will continue to facilitate the growth of the private sector and promote strong business linkages and networking in the global investment market place, President Mills assured.

The Board Chairman of the GIPC, Dr. Ishmael Yamson, appealed to the private sector to advantage of the enabling business climate to undertake more investments in the country.

Ghanadot