Government urged to remove taxes on imported printing materials

Mr Kwame Asare, Chief Executive Officer of Wilas Printing Press Limited in Kumasi, has underscored the need for government to institute a policy to remove taxes on imported printing materials into the country.

This, he said, would help Ghanaian local printers to be encouraged to produce enough educational materials at an affordable cost to benefit the nation.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Sunday, Mr Asare said the high cost of printing materials was killing the local industry in view of the high taxes on such materials.

The Wilas Printing Press was recently adjudged the best Ashanti regional printing house at the 2008 Business Excellence Awards ceremony and was presented with a certificate of honour in recognition of the company's contribution to the development of the printing industry.

Mr Asare was not happy that even though the nation had competent printing houses, the high cost of production had forced many of them to fold up their businesses and called for vibrant measures to address the situation.

He said this had forced the nation to rely on foreigners to print educational materials, which could have been given to local printers.

Mr Asare said he had dedicated his recently won award to his numerous customers, some of whom also served as his mentors, saying “but for their continuous support I would not have won the award”.

He urged the citizenry to at all times be disciplined, since a disciplined society was a pre-requisite to achieving Ghana's development goals.