Minister-designate for Trade and Industry KT Hammond says in order to help sustain Ghana’s industrialization agenda he is going to effectively implement the (10) Point Industrial Transformation Agenda of the Ministry.
The (10) Point Agenda was instituted to help the Ministry meet its Vision of establishing Ghana as a globally competitive manufacturing and trading hub in Africa.
According to KT Hammond, though this policy has been established to help revitalize SMEs who are trying to pick up after the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems to be stagnant at the moment.
KT Hammond speaking during his vetted by Parliament’s appointments Committee for the Ministry he has been designated.
Answering a question on how government is going to support these SMEs which are said to be the backbone of the Ghanaian economy because they contribute about 70% of Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP),
He said “The minister already has a ten-point plan… to revitalize these companies. The small-medium. What the policy seems to be is this they are in the doldrums. They should be brought back to life. It’s on paper, it has been discussed. I think it’s also been practicalized. The banks issue that as much as possible help to finance these companies, the government has actually also decided that government would bear some of the interest that these individual companies and institutions will be paying to the banks when they advance with some money.”
“They decided a certain percentage should be borne by the government. There has been a bit about tax holidays, tax incentives, and waivers. Indeed, talking about waivers, we may have to come back to the house. I have come to see that a few things have clogged up in parliament. We haven’t gotten around to resolving them to make sure that the government, the Ministry is able to proceed seamlessly in this context.”
“What would the Ministry do other that effectively, there are policy issues which are already clearly been set up. It is articulation. I hope that within the years that are left of the government, we will be able to contribute our widow’s might in terms of the implementation because the roadmap seemed to be fairly settled on what is to be done for these companies.”
The Adansi Asokwa MP was nominated for the ministry by President Akufo-Addo to replace Alan Kyerematen who resigned to pursue his presidential ambitions.
Read: Parliament’s Appointment Committee to Vet K.T Hammond, 5 others today
Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
