'Do not introduce bottlenecks in the way of investors'-Victor Smith

Koforidua, June 12, GNA - Mr Victor Smith, the Eastern Regional Minister, on Tuesday expressed worry about bottlenecks and frustrations investors have to endure before establishing their businesses.

He said if those man-made bottlenecks were not tackled, a foreign investor who had not much time to spend would be compelled to relocate to another country.

Mr Smith was opening a day's Regional Sensitization workshop in Koforidua on Tuesday organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

Municipal/District Chief Executives, Co-ordinating Directors, Planning and Finance Officers and local businessmen attended the workshop.

It was aimed at enabling the participants to examine strategies on how to attract the most appropriate investments into their areas.

Mr Smith said the profile of the Region clearly showed that it has huge potentials in agriculture, agro-processing, fishing and fish farming, agriculture-business, tourism and infrastructure.

He said those were the areas that the Municipal/District Chief Executives had to fashion out their investment plans for their local businesses to buy into and prepare grounds for expansion through partnership.

Mr Smith appealed to technocrats to identify businesses in their areas of jurisdiction and help them to develop proposals and business plans.

He said the essence of the better Ghana strategic vision was to energize the private sector to serve as the propellant from which economic growth was fuelled.

“This has found expression not only in closer collaboration and partnership with the private sector but also the mobilization of funding to the latter”.

Mr Smith said it was in line with that noble vision that the government had created a special Project- the Private Sector Development Strategy to facilitate the development and growth of a competitive and vibrant private sector and also to help reduce the cost of doing business in Ghana.

“Let us help in creating a business environment friendlier to attract investors into our country,” he said.

GNA