We need to patronise locally assembled vehicles to boost market - Trade Minister

Kobina Tahir Hammond, the Minister of Trade and Industry, says the government will help grow the patronage of locally assembled vehicles by encouraging Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) procure them.

Doing so, he said, would help the automobile firms scale up production, generate revenue and create more employment opportunities.

The Minister made the remarks when he visited the Toyota Tsusho Manufacturing Plant as part of his familiarisation tour of the Tema Free Zones enclave.

It was to enable the Minister who assumed office barely two months ago to get firsthand information on the structures, activities and challenges of agencies and enterprises that are within the purview of the Ministry.

Over the past month, Mr Hammond has paid working visits to some key agencies, including the Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Enterprises Agency, the AfCFTA National Coordination Office and the Ghana International Trade Commission.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Hammond said he was impressed with the level of investment and the job opportunities the plant had provided to some 58 Ghanaian employees.

The Plant is into the assembling of Totoya Hilux and Suzuki vehicles, with a daily production capacity of four vehicles.

Mr Ryuta Yoshikawa, the Managing Director of Toyota Tsusho Manufacturing Ghana, said the company could double its production capacity, but the shrinking local market did not make it favourable.

Nana Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana in June 2021 commissioned the assembly plant of the company, which is a subsidiary of the Toyota Tsusho Trading in Japan and the authorised local assembler of Toyota and Suzuki in Ghana.

So far, the company has manufactured close to 600 Toyota Hilux and 100 Suzuki vehicles.

The Minister of Trade and Industry also visited the Nissan Assembling plant in Tema where he interacted with company executives and inspected the 22,000 metres square facility, which has the optimum capacity to produce 3000 vehicles annually.

The company is into the assembling of Nissan, Peugeot and Foton vehicles where parts are imported from South Africa, Spain and China, respectively.

It currently assembles three vehicles daily, creating 59 employment opportunities including 36 direct jobs.

Early on, the minister who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa Constituency, visited the Tema Administrative office of the Ghana Free Zones Authority where he had a first-hand information on the activities of the agency.

He was updated on ongoing projects within the Tema Free Zones enclave that included access road and fence wall construction, expansion of water storage facility and the introduction of affordable transport and canteen services.

He was accompanied by senior officials of the Ministry.