The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) have reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate in reducing the cost of doing business at Ghana’s ports.
The collaboration is aimed at enhancing the efficiency and attractiveness of the ports to customers, both local and transit, and at fostering socio-economic growth in line with the government’s economic reset agenda.
GPHA and GSA’s collaboration is part of significant steps to make Ghana’s ports more competitive within the sub-region, supporting trade facilitation, and contributing to national economic growth.
This came up when Professor Ransford Gyampo, Chief Executive Officer of the GSA, paid a working visit to the GPHA and engaged with Brigadier General Paul Seidu Tanye-Kulono, Director General of the GPHA, and the management team on issues of mutual interest.
The visit was used to deliberate on strategic approaches to minimising the cost of doing business at Ghana’s ports, as well as on issues affecting the attractiveness of Ghana’s ports and the huge role it plays in the nation’s maritime industry.
Prof. Gyampo emphasised the need for both institutions to identify operational bottlenecks and implement sustainable solutions to mitigate delays, noting that having inefficiencies in the system often led to additional costs for importers, which are transferred to consumers.
He indicated that interacting with various stakeholders brought out the issues of the high cost of doing business, noting that the GSA and the GPHA working together could help minimise such high costs in line with President John Dramani Mahama’s intentions of reducing such costs of doing business in Ghana.
Brigadier General Tanye-Kolono, the DG for GPHA, reiterated his earlier call on the Transport Minister to assist in the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) and Covid-19 taxes from transit goods as well as certain taxes on transshipment goods.
He said, ‘On transshipment goods, for instance, I do not understand why goods that are spending just some minutes in Ghana’s ports and are on their way to other ports should be taxed. The same applies to transit goods. My interactions with transit agents and clients have shown that they have a strong preference for Ghana’s ports but are inundated with taxes on transit goods, and this cannot be continued.”
The GHPA’s director-general called for frequent meetings by the two institutions on practical ways of making Ghana’s ports attractive to support the government’s 24-hour economy and job creation agenda.
“I believe we must prioritise the national interest and the welfare of our stakeholders to ensure optimal service delivery. By working together, we can create a more competitive and business-friendly environment at our ports,” he stated.
Source: GNA
Govt seeks GHS140M to fully operationalize Bokoro Agenda 111 Hospital
