“We will support this decision with various government inter-ministerial financial support in a pragmatic way in order to encourage more people to take the position you have taken,” he firmly assured.
mr. Ofori-Atta made the observation while a delegation of investors from Thailand, led by the Executive Chairman of the JGC, Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, and the Honorary Consul of Ghana in Thailand, Dr. Sicha Singsomboon, paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Finance on Friday, December 30, 2022.
The association and collaboration between JGC and the Thai rice industry, he added, is in the right direction, adding that it should trigger the transformation of Ghana’s rice sector.
“We will be rice exporters and not importers for three years and this is our commitment,” the finance minister said optimistically.
Furthermore, he asked for partners in the Ghana-Thailand rice project to ensure that the collaboration can improve production, intensive research, and the knowledge that Thailand brings.
“You also need to provide added value and market relationships and an independent model,” he said.
To this end, Mr. Ofori-Atta assured the project of strong support to ensure its success.
“We are determined and determined to catalyze business operations such as Jospong Group of Companies to propel the economic transformation and growth of our country,” he said underscoring.
According to the minister of finance, it is very criminal that Ghana has fertile land, water and good weather conditions, but continues to import more than two billion dollars worth of rice.
“Since 2017, we have imported more than one million dollars worth of rice. What is more embarrassing is that countries like Ukraine are exporting about 74 million tonnes of wheat despite the current conflict, and you wonder why Ghana and Africa are sleeping,” he said.
Therefore, he pointed out that this trend must be curtailed, indicating that this is not the legacy that the Akufo-Addo-led government wants to leave behind.
“So let’s continue to promote private sector leadership and ensure that this is a thing of the past.”
He emphasized that the Ghana Cares Obaatanpa program is one of the key initiatives of the government to alleviate the current economic challenges in the country.
It is President Akufo-Addo’s vision to use well-capitalized development banks to drive these initiatives, he said.
In a brief comment, JGC Executive Chairman, Dr. Siaw Agyepong, said that venturing into rice production requires skills and technical knowledge to increase yield, thus it is necessary to woo investors with the right experience and mechanical assets to Ghana.
From the Ministry of Finance, the Thai delegation called the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, where the latter assured the full support of the ministry to ensure the successful implementation of the project.
He was very happy to hear that a delegation of Thai investors had plans to establish an organic fertilizer plant in Ghana.
The move, he said, would help boost agricultural production and also reduce the operational costs of Ghanaian farmers.