Vice President Aliu Mahama said on Wednesday that government's commitment towards regional integration goes beyond rhetoric since it is the only way to promote the private sector which has enormous potentials to facilitate economic growth. "We are not just talking but would let things work," he told a 16-member delegation of the West African Enterprise Network (WAEN) that called on him at the State House.
Alhaji Mahama said in his interaction with the Minister of Regional Integration and Economic Planning, he has found that there are elaborate plans to give impetus to business growth and co-operation between Ghana and other African countries.
Members of the network are made up of entrepreneurs from 13 countries in the West Africa sub-region.
Alhaji Mahama said measures are being taken to balance the national budget by reducing government's heavy borrowing from the commercial banks to enable the private sector to get access to credit.
He explained that the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products has streamlined the operations of the Tema Oil Refinery, which over-relied on the Ghana Commercial Bank.
Vice-President Mahama assured the business community that the government would not make any hasty decision regarding Ghana's participation in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.
He said a technical team has been constituted to study the implications of the initiative on the economy. Making the judiciary independent and capable of handling economic related issues will also strengthen the rule of law.
Mr Ashim Morton, National Chairman of WAEN, said the network made up of 450 entrepreneurs promote cross-border trade and investment. The organisation is also facilitating the creation of financial instruments suitable to the needs of private enterprises and improve dialogue between the state and the private sector.
Mr Keli Gadzekpo, Executive Vice-chairman of Databank, commended government's policies on the capital market and called for tax exemptions for business entrepreneurs who are listed on the stock exchange.He appealed to the government to be circumspect in adopting the HIPC initiative since it gives an impression that Ghana is bankrupt which is in conflict with the NPP's plan to usher in the golden age of business.
Mr Gadzekpo called for an open debate on the issue instead of adopting the suggestions of the Bretton Woods institutions, which have not always worked for the country. Mr Giddy Laryea, Managing Director of Media Magic, who spoke on the media landscape in Ghana called on the government to speed up the process of repealing laws that are inimical to press freedom.
Mr Hansen Thompson, member of the executive committee of WAEN, said for Ghana to address the challenges of globalisation, there is the need to share technology, education and infrastructure with other countries to encourage industrialisation.
Mr Charles Nyanor, Minister of State for Private Sector Development, said the government would reverse the country's persistent budget deficit problems by strengthening the capital market to be able to lend more money to the private sector.
Mr Kwesi Abeasi, Director of the Private Enterprise Foundation, asked members of WAEN to examine the possibility of merging some of their smaller business initiatives to make them competitive on the world market.
