Common policy on local content advocated
The programme was on the theme: “Promoting Local Content Development in Power Utilities and Related Industries in Ghana — Achievements and Sustainable Initiatives”.
It was designed to provide the guide posts in the VRA’s effort at promoting local content development in the power utilities and setting out a number of actions for promoting local content in public infrastructure delivery.
Dr Smart-Yeboah noted that having local content for the country was good, as it helped to accelerate national development efforts.
Local content aims at, among other things, empowering local people economically.
Dr Smart-Yeboah said procurement, for instance, was big business subject to many threats, adding that a proper local content law would help eliminate influences related to those threats.
He described the forum as a fine opportunity for the various institutions to compare notes as far as local content was concerned.
According to him, some people had misconception about local content initiatives and that such events helped to address those misconceptions.
The Chief Executive of the VRA, Mr Kweku Awotwi, said the need for local content in the delivery of infrastructure projects in developing countries was an issue recognised by multilateral development banks, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and all major United Nations (UN) agencies.
He indicated that to create a level playing field where the local construction industry could compete on equal terms with foreign competitors, a number of policy issues had to be resolved.
The first, he said, was “the tying of bilateral assistance to developing countries to the purchase of goods and services from the donor community”.
He said even when aid was not tied, some firms in donor countries involved in the provision of design services often specified their own national suppliers and products.
“UNCTAD suggests that using procurement to promote local technology transfer to developing countries could be one way of offsetting the adverse effects of tied aid,” he said.
Mr Awotwi said the second issue involved the difficulties encountered by local enterprises in accessing the public procurement market.
Those, he said, included high fixed cost of access, high cost of tender information, the policy of bundling contracts which favoured large firms and financial constraints.
The third issue, he said, was fiscal policy which disadvantaged local suppliers.
“Unless the challenges mentioned are addressed satisfactorily, enterprises in Ghana and other developing countries will be at a disadvantage against international competitors.
“The view has been expressed that when one side is seriously weaker than the other, the playing field needs to be tilted to favour the weaker,” he added.
Story by Emmanuel Bonney
