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The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nana Akua Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, has urged key stakeholders in the trade and Industry sector to support the legislative instrument (L.I) on import substitution.
The L.I., which is currently before Parliament, seeks to regulate the importation of selected products into the Ghanaian market, including rice and poultry.
When implemented, the L. I will become a law that would promote domestic production and regulate trade and economic activities in the country.
At a consultative meeting organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) in Accra, the deputy minister stressed the need for local producers and importers to take keen interest in the law.
The meeting was held to seek the input of stakeholders in the economic sector on the L.I.
The move was also to ensure a fair inclusion of the stakeholders whose contribution was vital in the implementation of the policy.
Major stakeholders such as the Ghana Union of Traders Association, the Association of Ghana Industry as well as the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana participated in the dialogue.
Nana Asiamah-Adjei said the Bill was one of the ministry’s major responses to the economic pressure currently faced by the country because of the inability to produce products such as rice and poultry in larger quantities to feed the growing population.
She was optimistic that the passing of the Bill would help the country to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of industrialised products.
The deputy minister observed that the significant expenditure on rice every year underscored the need for a policy shift to reduce reliance on the importation of foreign goods.
She said in making that paradigm shift, it was important to bring the key stakeholders along so that everyone would be abreast of it.
“We need to be able to engage people who are going to be directly on indirectly affected by this bill before we are able to enact it into law.
The feedback we get from them will enable us to forward it to the Attorney General’s Department for it to be considered during the final draft,” she said.
The associations pledged their support for the Bill.
They said it would not only boost local production but also create employment opportunities for the youth.
