Negative policies that affect entrepreneurs should be exorcised

-President Kufuor

Accra, June 8, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday said the situation in which Ghanaian entrepreneurs were cowed with negative policies should be exorcised totally from the country. He cited policies such as the confiscation of assets without due legal process, political discrimination, breach of banking confidentiality and blatant destruction of assets.

"This is necessary because without the sprouting and flourishing of new businesses there will be no way of generating employment which is the way of spreading wealth within the society", he said. President Kufuor made the call when inaugurating a four million dollar Pharmaceutical Factory Complex at Baatsonaa on the Spintex Road in the Greater Accra Region. The factory DANADAMS Pharmaceuticals Limited is a joint venture between Danpong Pharmaceuticals (Ghana) Limited and Adams Pharmaceuticals (Anhui) Company Limited of China. Its objective is to produce quality and reasonably priced pharmaceutical products mainly Anti-Malarial and Anti-Retroviral drugs for the Ghanaian and the West African markets.

President Kufuor said any policy that had been initiated by the Government had come with new opportunities for Ghanaians that should be explored to their advantage. He said it would be a shame for Ghanaians to allow themselves to be distracted by the propaganda that sought to denigrate every new development and divert national attention from its main focus of accelerated development. "The good citizens of this country must remain resolute and strive to be self-reliant and resourceful taking advantage of the opportunities as they come", he stressed.

President Kufuor said apart from improving the macro economy of Ghana through the reduction of inflation, interest rates and securing the relative stability of the local currency, the Government was reforming all business-related laws to make them investment-friendly. He said these efforts by the Government were yielding good dividends and investors from far and near had taken note and were responding positively. President Kufuor commended the managements of the two companies and those, who contributed to such a landmark achievement. He said China was currently the third main source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into Ghana coming after India and Britain.

President Kufuor said China had so far registered about 168 projects at the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC). He said improvement in the economy should inspire Ghanaians to be more aggressive in their drive to attract investment. In this regard, he said the society, as a whole should begin to encourage people with the know-how, resources and initiative to venture into new businesses or expand existing ones either by themselves or in partnership with local or foreign investors.

Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Factory, appealed to the Ministry of Health (MOH) to assist local pharmaceutical industries to grow by purchasing anti-malarial, anti-retroviral and other drugs, which were available locally. He said the significance of such a measure was that patients would be assured of good quality medicine at affordable prices and help the nation save limited foreign exchange that would be used to import such drugs. Dr Gyamfi appealed to the Government for assistance to ensure the availability and reliable flow of electricity and water supply in the Baatsonaa area.