Trade Minister Assures Western Region

....Plans Afoot to Attract Investments
The minister for Trade, Industry and Presidential Initiative, Mr. Allan Kyerematen, has assured the people of Western region that plans are far advanced by his ministry to look for funding to develop the Sekondi free zone enclave to provide the necessary infrastructure needed to attract investment into the region.

"When this is achieved, investors who wish to locate in the Western region would have access to factory units, warehouses, improved infrastructure and above all, a well developed and efficient seaport for their export and import requirements" he said.

In a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the first ever regional office for the free zone board in Takoradi last Friday, Mr. Kyerematen said since the government is committed to attaining the golden age of business and making the private sector the engine of growth in the economy, investments that would be located in the Western region would be given the same support as it pertains everywhere.

The Sekondi free zone enclave was one of the enclaves designed by the previous NDC regime to support the free zone concept. Tema free zone enclave is the other one.

For reasons that are difficult to understand, only the Tema enclave was developed. The Sekondi one was completely relegated to the background.

Later a Chinese consultant showed interest in the seemingly neglected Sekondi zone and went ahead to demarcate the acquired land for the project after which he toured some European and Asian countries to promote the zone, which received positive response.

The project, which was promoted by the Chinese consultant, would have seen the necessary construction of facilities for the manufacture and assembling of hi-tech products like computers, TVs and mobile phones.

The project would also see the emergence of bio-industries, pharmaceutical repackaging and distribution and the assembling of bicycles, motorbikes, solar equipment and textiles to the West African market.

Just as this project which was projected to contribute a whopping $400 million annually to our economy two years after its development in addition to the creation of 200,000 jobs for the people of Western region was about to take off, rumours became rife that the powers that be were planning to shift the project to other part of the country which had nothing to do with the free zone enclave.

This strange decision was apparently abandoned when Chronicle got wind of it and went ahead to publish the story in March this year.

Now that the new sector minister, Mr. Allan Kyerematen has gone ahead to open a new office for the free zone in Takoradi to facilitate the work of the Sekondi zone, one can conveniently say that this nocturnal idea has effectively been abandoned.

The minister whose speech was read on his behalf at a short but impressive ceremony by a minister of state at his ministry, Hon. Ishmael Ashitey, noted that the enactment of the free zone Act in 1995 to enhance the country's economic liberalisation programme by offering special facilities and investment incentives to encourage the production of goods and services primarily for the export market, has yielded a fruitful results.

According to the minister, capital invested by the free zone enterprises as at the end of 2002 was about $447 million. Production for the same period was around $222 million with export standing at $174 million.

Employment levels, he continued, also hit 9,500. To him, this laudable achievement is an indication that the free zone programme, when properly managed, could contribute immensely to our economy.

Kyerematen said it was the increase in the number of companies and activities of the free zone enterprises that had necessitated the establishment of regional offices to cater for the ever-growing numbers.

According to him Western region is the first to have a regional free zone office because his government intends to develop the Takoradi port.

"For so many years, the Tema port has been the main seaport for the whole country. Developing the Takoradi port would therefore provide an alternative sea port, more so considering the fact that this port has the potential of serving the western and northern parts of the country" he noted.

He assured the gathering in his speech that the new Takoradi office would provide the same services that the head office in Accra provides, therefore there would be no need for investors to travel all the way to Accra for services that could easily be provided by the regional office.

The Western regional minister, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, on his part regretted that though a lot had been said about the development of the Sekondi free zone enclave, it still remained a dream yet to come true.

He therefore commended the trade ministry and Mr. Allan Kyerematen in particular for fast-tracking the long awaited setting up of the office.