The Association of Ghana Industry (AGI) has held the 2022 Annual Regional Meeting (ARM) at Worawora in the Oti Region to strategise towards promoting business activities in Oti, Volta and the Eastern regions.
It is also aimed at finding ways to create jobs through effective private sector development to facilitate rapid economic growth of the country.
The meeting, which was under the theme “ Promoting Local Economic Development for the African Continental Free Trade Area,’’ was attended by participants from Oti, Volta and the Eastern regions.
In an address, the Director of Investor Services of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Edward Ashong Lartey, said the centre had over the years helped to remove trade barriers, and created awareness for businesses across the country.
Mr Lartey pointed out that GIPC had also supported many businesses to grow over the years, and urged businesses in the country to take advantage of the opportunities available to develop and promote their activities, which he observed was vital to the economic development of the country.
He observed that access to land was crucial to investors, and called on Municipal and District Chief Executives (MDCES) to, as a matter of importance, identify available areas of investment for investors who would be interested in their respective areas to embark on fruitful economic activities.
The Director of Business Services (DBS) of AGI, Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah, said it was unfortunate that there was an erroneous impression created that the Ghana Free Zone (GFZ) was to benefit only foreign investors, and said that both local and foreign investors should take advantage of the opportunity to promote their businesses.
Mr Akwaboah said local investors were being encouraged to improve upon their business activities, leading to the incentives under the Free Zone, and stressed the need for local investors to take advantage of the Africa Free Zone to export their produce to other Africa countries, which was a difficult thing to do in the past..
The Oti, Eastern and Volta Regional Chairman of the AGI, Mr Dela Gadzanku, said there was the need for effective strategies to promote local businesses, which he said were catalysts for economic growth of the country.
The Oti Regional Minister, Dr Joshua Makubu, called for the promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which he said were relevant for the growth of the economy, therefore efforts should be made to promote them to ensure vibrant local economic growth.
Dr Makubu said the Oti Region had many raw materials such as Cocoa, timber and yam, among others, which could be explored to the benefit of the people in the region and the country at large, saying iron ore had been found in the region, therefore AGI should adopt strategies that could lead to business development in the region.
