C'wealth investment forum kicks off today

All is set for the first Commonwealth-Ghana Investment Conference scheduled to take place at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra today 27 November.

The conference is on the theme, ?Positioning Ghana as the Business and Commercial Hub of West Africa- Developing the Private the Private-Public Partnership for the Golden Age of Business.?

The three-day conference, which is being hosted by the Government of Ghana, is being held under the auspices of Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).

The CBC draws private sector membership from some 150 major corporate bodies spread across 24 Commonwealth countries, all united in the goal of encouraging trade and investment within the Commonwealth.

Issues which will receive special focus on the conference will include Ghana?s competitiveness as a regional hub, public-private partnership in Ghana, with particular reference to the energy and water sectors, financial services and capital market opportunities, and the development of small and medium-scale enterprise.

The development of the extraction industries and information technology as well as corporate governance will equally take centre stage at the conference.

The conference, which is expected to bring together top international investors from member Commonwealth countries as well as representation from other European countries and America, is a bold attempt to revamp the investment culture and attract the necessary foreign direct investment to Ghana.

FDIs have registered a downward trend since 1998. The country attracted nearly $234m in FDIs in 1999 but this slipped to $132m in 2000. Most of the investments were made in the extractive industry, with very little being channelled to the manufacturing sector.

In 2001, inflows further fell to $97m, despite improved macro-economic fundamentals. Total foreign investment registered with GIPC during the first half of the year was just under $420m.