President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the government is ready to partner existing companies that are seeking expansion to create more jobs for Ghanaians under its flagship programme, the ‘One district, One factory’.
President Nana Addo said this when he cut-sod for the phase 3 and phase 4 expansion of the Shama-based Twyford-KEDA Ghana Ceramics plant.
The president, who is on a two-day tour of the Western Region said such partnerships would not be discriminatory as the jobs that would be created from this company’s expansion would be for Ghanaians.
“This commissioning and sod-cutting is testament that government is ready to partner any company that is ready to expand its production base to offer jobs to our young people. We are doing so without discrimination, being Ghanaian or foreign, so long as you are prepared to work and invest, you will have the support of this government“, he said.
The President also used the occasion to commend the Chiefs and people of Shama as well as the leadership of the region for facilitating the operations of Twyford-KEDA Ghana Ceramics.
The Managing Director of KEDA, Larry Li, said the phase-3 and 4 expansion will each add a thousand jobs and increase production to 150,000 square meters per day.
Mr. Li assured that the company is committed to its tax obligations towards the government, and is also working on transferring a good percentage of the company’s leadership to Ghanaians.
“This is expected to increase revenue generation for the government through the payment of Value Added Tax, Corporate Tax, taxes from local materials purchases, sub-Contractors and raw materials sourced from local suppliers…Our engineers and professionals working here have so far trained and transferred the related technologies and know-how to some key local employees. As part of our localization drive, we will in the next 1-year hand over 40% of key and technical positions to our local staff. This is our commitment to the localization of our factory“, he said.