Two-year tax holiday for essential investors

Government would offer a two-year tax holiday to any investor prepared to establish an agro-processing industry in four deprived regions in the country.

The regions are the Central, Northern, Upper East and Western.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Trade and Industry, disclosed this on Tuesday when a six-member Turkish delegation paid a courtesy call on him in Accra to declare their interest in investing in economically viable areas in the country.

He gave the assurance that the government would provide investors with a friendly investment climate as well as a guarantee to repatriate their profit.

Mr Iddrisu said economic fortunes existed in the agricultural, telecommunication, infrastructure and road construction, as well as in the medical fields.

He said the government was seeking the investment partners to revamp the Pwalugu Tomato Factory, a tomato paste factory located in the Upper East Region that is saddled with challenges.

Mr Iddrisu said the Brong Ahafo Region is also a hub for a tomato-producing community, adding that the region could serve as a vantage area for the establishment of a factory.

On construction, he announced the government’s intention to construct regional hospitals in the Eastern and Western Regions.

Mr Iddrisu praised Turkey for her shelter intervention, describing their construction projects as the best in the world.

He said the government was interested in attracting investors who would construct a number of housing units for the security agencies.

Mr Iddrisu said the government was seeking additional funding to enable it develop the Tamale Airport into an international standard.

He commended Mr Suha Ozkan, Head of the Delegation, for his enthusiasm and diplomacy in driving Turkish investment into the country, and added that it had already yielded “diplomatic dividends”.

Mr Ozkan was accompanied by Mr Osman Demirier, General Co-ordinator of ERN Group, Mr Ahmet Tekin Ozdener, Chief Commercial Officer of KOC Group and Mr Sezgi Mete, Export Group Manager of KOC Group.

The KOC Group has the intention of establishing a manufacturing facility for producing spaghetti, tomato paste and ketchup.

The group also is seeking to establish an assembly plant for refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines and cookers.

The ERN Group, on the other hand, is prospecting to establish, through a public-private partnership, construction of airport terminals, institutional housing and construction of hospital blocks.

The visit of the delegation had been facilitated by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and Afrimeks Foreign Trade Limited, a Turkish establishment.

The two entities had facilitated Turkish investment in export-oriented manufacturing and service sectors in the country.

It was as a result of GEPA’s coordination of Ghana’s participation in Izmir Fair in Turkey in September 2012, and this has resulted in two batches of Turkish investor delegations visiting the country.