Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, P.V. Obeng has charged members of the Association of Ghana Industries to demand more from government in the formulation of policies to grow their sector.

According to him, this is the only way local industry could effectively position itself on the global market.

Speaking at the Association’s 53rd Annual General Meeting in Accra, Mr. P.V. Obeng challenged entrepreneurs to do more in addressing the challenges confronting the economy.

He maintained that the country cannot rely on budget alone to finance major projects including roads, airport expansion, hospitals and schools.

“Perhaps we can even borrow, but if we borrow on the capital market, they’re coming at a high cost. And what will happen when revenue doesn’t move up and expenditure on development moves up? The mismatch is represented by the government which creates the interest rate and inflation problems that we are confronted.

“So we have no choice than to use other people’s money to do much of the business that governments have been doing in the past. That is why it’s become imperative that we master our game and invite private sector entrepreneurship, capital, attitudes and mentality into the running of the day-today activities of the country.”

Mr. P.V. Obeng also challenged industry players to interrogate government economic interventions which he said have put pressure on the wage bill. ‘’We’ve talked about the effect of single spine on government budget and on the deficit but I’ve not heard the business community say we’ve been watching the way the public sector is manned and the relativities and the structure of the staffing.”

He further analysed:  “If the numerator cannot change, the denominator must change, and the denominator is the size of the GDP, we need to grow, we need to become bigger so that even at the same level of the public sector, by growing the denominator, the rate of the salary as the percentage of the GDP will play a level role’’.

He called on the local business community to take a cue from what industry players in some other countries do in collaborating with their governments to execute polices that affect them.

“Positioning yourself in the global market does not limit you to be looking at what you can do for yourself alone, but what you do with others whose activities impact on yours. Let us begin to do what the business community in Italy, Korea, China do with their government. You must be ahead of them, counsel them, show them the truth and the way forward and gradually let the partnership come to one of equality and equity,” he said.