AS part of efforts to boost investor confidence and rake in more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) will tomorrow, hold a stakeholders’ forum on the country’s tax and exemptions regime in Accra.
The forum will be the second-quarter edition of the Centre’s Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)’ Breakfast Meeting on the theme, “Understanding Ghana’s tax and exemptions regime towards increasing investor confidence in the business environment.
The event would provide perspectives on the country’s tax system to assist investors make informed decisions regarding investing in specific sectors on the economy.
Stakeholders including the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) would be educating business executives and investors on leveraging on the various tax incentives that the country has for them.
Commenting on the event, the CEO of GIPC, Mr Yofi Grant noted that the country’s tax system has seen significant improvement, consequently doubling the tax-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio since the introduction of tax reforms in 1983.
“The tax regime, which is characterised by many incentives and exemptions, has engineered an enabling environment for many businesses, both local and foreign, to thrive,” he said.
Mr Grant said however that, “To align such tax regime with current happenings, there was the need for stakeholder engagements, to engender conversations on improving the current tax system.”
He also underscored the essence of identifying barriers and streamlining processes, in order to enhance operations and reinvestment opportunities for all investors in the country, which he said the discussion with the stakeholders would cater for.
The event, which also formed part of the “Let’s Grow in Ghana and Grow with Ghana,” campaign would provide opportunity for investors in the diaspora to join the conversation, online, on various social media platforms of GIPC.
The maiden edition of the CEOs’ Breakfast Meeting tackled issues on Technology Transfer Agreements (TTAs), and highlighted the importance of such agreement to both foreign and local businesses.
The Head of the Legal Division at the GIPC, Naa Lamley Orleans-Lindsay, touching on the meeting said, “Registering a Technology Transfer Agreement with the GIPC is essential for protecting innovation and imperative for the facilitation of technology dissemination.”
Earlier this year, the Centre pointed out that, it was focused on building sustainable relationship with both local and foreign investors to create more jobs in the country and reach its $3 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) target for 2021.
GIPC attracted $2.6 billion FDI in 2020, from 279 projects, which was, expected to create about 27,110 jobs in the country, with majority of these jobs, earmarked for Ghanaians.
BY FRANCIS NTOW
