Cement producers laud Parliament for passing bill
The Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director of Ghacem, Dr George Dawson-Ahmoah, who is also the Chairman of the Ghana Cement Manufacturers Association (GCMA), has, on behalf of the association, lauded the passage of the Ghana International Trade Commission (GITC) Bill.
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The bill seeks to establish the GITC as an independent quasi-judicial government agency empowered to regulate Ghana’s international trade in conformity with the rules and regulations of the world trade system and deal with related matters.
Dr Dawson-Ahmoah, who is also the Chairman of the Tema branch of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), told the press that the bill had come at an opportune time to also provide trade contingency measures which had legal backing to protect the local industry.
He said the bill would provide protection for local industries, generate revenue, as well as promote and attract foreign investments.
Appreciation
Dr Dawson-Ahmoah thanked the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Parliament for their commitment to seeing through the passage of the bill, stressing that it came as an encouragement for the local industry to strive and compete fairly on the competitive market.
He expressed optimism that the bill would ensure fair competition for persons engaged in domestic production and international trade and protect the domestic market from the impact of unfair trade practices in the course of international trade.
In addition, he said, the GITC would ensure special import safeguard measures such as anti-dumping duties and tariff adjustment.
“Our worry of late was that most industries are collapsing and workers are losing their jobs because of the unprofitable nature of businesses as a result of the influx of imported goods, with cement not an exception,” he said.
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He appealed to stakeholders, especially those in the business sector such as the AGI, to support the bill and capitalise on it to support the local industry.
He urged the local industry to maximise production and be consistent to meet market demand to reinforce the objective of promoting made-in-Ghana goods and services when the bill takes off.