Dumsor: We need strong bonds between private and public sectors - Mahama
President John Mahama has called for a strong engagement between the public and private sectors to address the negative effects that the ongoing load-shedding exercise is having on local businesses and industries.
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Opening a meeting of the Private Sector Advisory Council at the Flagstaff House last yesterday, Mr Mahama expressed concern over the effects of the power outages on small-scale businesses that government was working hard to grow and make competitive.
Membership
The first in a series of three meetings to be held this year, the council discussed the current state of the economy, the energy crisis and reviewed some actions and policies of the last half year and some of the new ones contained in the 2015 budget.
Membership of the council includes the ministries of Finance, Trade and Industry, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), DANIDA, USAID, the Ghana Investments Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce, Ghana Employers Association, the Ghana Chamber of Mines, DFID, and the Private Enterprises Federation.
Load management
President Mahama admitted that the ongoing load management exercise would definitely erode some of the gains made by the government last year.
He, therefore, underscored the need for useful engagements on the issue.
He advocated collaboration between local businesses and their foreign partners to set up production bases in the country as a way of expanding Ghana’s export capacity.
He noted that there were huge opportunities for transformation in the economy and urged businesses to take advantage of those prospects.
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The President indicated that the government would, this year, support interventions that diversified exports, especially in the agricultural sector, to enhance exports through the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF).
Recently, he said, a task force on the Ghana EXIM Bank was put together, saying that, coupled with the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, would engender solid institutions that would push forward the nation’s transformation agenda.
President Mahama said it was the government’s objective to develop a thriving sector that was productive and competitive to transform the source of the country’s growth and provide economic opportunities for all Ghanaians.
To give further meaning to that objective, he said, last year the government provided direct financial support for certain segments of the private sector, such as the pharmaceutical industries, agro-businesses and the non-traditional export sector.
He acknowledged the challenges being faced in the implementation of the Private Sector Development Strategy and also bureaucratic bottlenecks that confronted the private sector.
President Mahama noted that the council had the onerous responsibility to build a good synergy between the public and the private sectors and looked forward to frank and constructive discussions with the advisory council on the way forward.