The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, says President Nana Akufo-Addo saved the Akosombo Textiles (ATL) Limited from shutting down.
The Trade and Industry Minister said “this company [ATL], was literally brought to its knees,” with the factory producing at less than 30% capacity when the New Patriotic Party left office in 2008.”
“By the time that we took over, the management of ATL had already decided that enough was enough, and that it was time for them, with all the investments that they had made, to say goodbye,” he said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”1Gf6gmwcvJZNmbdeiVHWab23ZBGq3XRr”]“It took the courage of His Excellency the President to decide that ATL will continue. He marshaled all the arguments that he could, even amongst us his colleagues, to defend the point that it was important to save this company. And, that is why you will recall that Government had to intervene to save this company, and in addition to that, has been able to attract private sector investments to be able to ensure that this particular company will go to the point where it started from,” Alan Kyeremanten added.
The Trade and Industry Minister made this known on Thursday, when President Akufo-Addo paid a brief visit to the Akosombo Textiles Limited on the first day of his 3-day tour of the Eastern Region.
Some media reports suggested that ATL had sacked about 600 of its staff, and had also shutdown some of its plants due to shortage of raw materials and lack of money; a claim ATL had denied.
Alan Kyeremanten said the company has instead been revived under the Akufo-Addo government since it is operating at full capacity with about 3,500 workers.
Textile companies in the country have over the years complained about pirated products on the market which are sold at cheaper prices. They claim the unfair business practice is affecting their businesses.
The Trade Minister noted that the Akufo-Addo government has decided to introduce a number of policy measures to deal with the challenges in the textile industry.
These policies he said include the introduction of tax stamps, and the designation of a single import corridor, “so you cannot bring textiles into this country except through that designated corridor, which is through Tema.”
Alan Kyerematen said in 2016 there was a time about 30 million yards of textile prints were illegally imported into Ghana.
“It means that the rest were being smuggled in through the Eastern Corridor, so we can no longer tolerate this and that is why we are putting in a dedicated entry point. If you are a genuine importer and you want to import textile print, why do you want to import it through Lomé, when it is coming to Ghana and we have a port in Tema? It will come through Tema and we have a port to check those that are pirated and those that are not pirated,” he added.
Additionally, the Minister for Trade indicated that Government is providing stimulus packages and other support to the textile companies, and will also put in place a textile management import system “so that those who are importing and are not declaring what they are importing will have this control management system where imports of textile prints will be managed centrally. Then we can check these pirated goods.”
Alan Kyerematen indicated further that President Akufo-Addo “has directed that we must take steps to be able to encourage those factories outside, particularly in China to relocate to Ghana. I am pleased to report that by the 1st week of December, the partners working together with Ghana have invited some of these manufacturers to come so that we can start discussing the way forward.”
Mr. Kyerematen said he’s convinced that with all these policy measures in place, and with the President’s commitment and support, all the challenges of the textile industry will be a thing of the past.
“However, we would also ensure that we have a task force who will then ensure that we all comply with all these policy measures, so I want you to have confidence in His Excellency the President and the NPP government that your future is bright,” the Trade Minister assured.
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By: citinewsroom.com | Ghana