It is looking to attract the funds from Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean into healthcare, agriculture, tourism, housing, transport, extractives, infrastructure, aquaculture, technology and services.

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GIPC, Yaw AmoatengAfriyie, who stated this at the second Media Orientation Workshop in Accra on Thursday,  said the centre was upbeat about the FDI’s prospects because Ghana was a remarkable place to do business.

“[We have a] stable political environment, robust judiciary, return on investment, dynamic culture and enviable position as the commercial springboard into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with a promising youthful market of 1.3 billion people and a combined and growing GDP of $3.4 trillion,”  he said.

The orientation was aimed at shedding light on the work of the Centre to enhance the media’s understanding of its work to enhance in-depth and balanced reportage.

The participants were taken through the Aftercare Division created by GIPC to promote and facilitate re-investment, Technology transfer regime in Ghana, registration procedures and grant of incentives under the GIPC Act.

MrAfriyiesaid the global race for capital and skills, attracting quality Foreign Direct Investment was becoming increasingly difficult, indicating that Global FDI in 2019 reached US$1.5 trillion and fell by 42 per cent post-pandemic.

He said United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2020 argued that in a Post-COVID environment, technologically advanced economies with a commitment to private sector growth could restore confidence and become competitive.

“As the global economy transitions to normalcy from the pandemic, it is now faced with a geopolitical situation including trade wars, global inflationary pressures, and the recent escalation in Ukraine had enormous value chain implications on economies like that of Ghana,” MrAfriyie, said.

The Deputy CEO of GIPC, however,  said  through the COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprise Support (CARES), the GIPC envisioned that the country would be put on a sustained path toward resilience, self-sufficiency, and growth.

“We are beginning to see the green shoots of that recovery. Recent data from the GSS attests to rebounding growth and confidence, albeit sluggishly but growth nonetheless, from a low of 0.4 per cent in 2020 to approximately 6.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2021,” he said.

Mr Afriyie said it was against that backdrop, that the GIPC was working proactively to lead Ghana’s investment case to attract and retain quality FDI and LDI from traditional and new partners.

“It cannot be business as usual. If Ghana is to succeed in the current global context, then GIPC’s activities must justify why Ghana is an attractive destination for doing business.

That strategic shift has started in earnest by pursuing painstaking consensus-led reforms to our governing legislation, developing partnerships and initiatives to support private sector growth and the jobs agenda,” he said.

He, therefore, encouraged foreign and local companies that operate in Ghana without GIPC certification to register with the centre because it offered companies certain safeguards, including a guarantee against expropriation, advisory services, and a credible avenue for matchmaking with foreign and local partners.

Recognizing the important role the media plays in the work of the centre, he urged the media to scrutinise the work of the centre objectively, professionally and in a balanced manner.