TUC, AGI Demand New Trade Policy for Ghana

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), Association of Ghana Industries(AGI), Ghana National Chamber of Commerce, and the Association of Employers have agreed to team up to mount pressure on government to change the country’s trade policy.

According to the group, the current trade policy favours importation, affecting   local production and ultimately leading to a high unemployment rate in the country.

Some statistics show that the rate of unemployment among the general population currently stands at 12%, while the unemployment rate among the youth is at 25%.

Speaking to Citi Business News after a Breakfast meeting as part of the collaborative efforts, Executive Secretary of the TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah said the individual associations have not been able to effectively demand for change, hence the need for the consolidation

“The talking must end, let us rise up. Let us put pressure on our government to do the right thing. Most of our failures are because our policies have failed. If you have policies that fail, then they are not good policies.”

Dr. Baah added that “the trade we do now in Ghana is only for imported goods. If we can create jobs for our children then we have to go back to industry.”

The meeting is the first of the series of meetings the groups wants to hold to discuss an action plan for their agenda.

On his part, President of the AGI, Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi said government has failed to address the high unemployment rate in the country.

“We have to look at the trade policies and see how we can promote local investors because they will create jobs. But if you always look at people to bring things into the country, then you are creating jobs for other countries because these investors come to sell products from their countries, Dr. Adu-Gyamfi noted.

The group is hoping to set up a committee made up of representatives from all the associations to put together a framework to begin the process.

Source: Citibusinessnews