The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) hopes to lock in a minimum of 200 projects during the "Invest in Ghana" seminar, GIPC CEO, George Aboagye has said. The "Invest in Ghana" seminar, which is scheduled for the third quarter of this year and is being organised by GIPC in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Investment (OSEC), aims at promoting partnerships between local and foreign investors. The seminar, launched alongside the 2010 Ghana Club 100 awards in February, comprises three phases. The first phase involved the identification and profiling of projects in Ghana. The second phase involved the Centre promoting the profiled projects in Switzerland. The final phase is the "Invest in Ghana" seminar, which is to provide a platform for the profiled companies to hold one-¬on-one meetings with foreign investors. The Ghana Club 100 event, which is to run concurrently with the "Invest in Ghana" seminar, is an annual event to honour the top 100 companies in corporate excellence. Under the theme "Enhancing partnerships between domestic and foreign investments for economic growth" , the awards will be given to 10 strategic sectors, which are in line with government's development agenda, including agriculture and agribusiness, financial services, information and communication technology, services, infrastructure, petroleum and mining services, manufacturing, tourism, health and education. Data from GIPC shows the Centre recorded a total estimated value of GHc263.43 (US$ 188.16) worth of investments in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 942.46 percent over the GH¢25.7 (US$18.05) recorded for the first quarter of 2009. The total initial capital transfer for the period was GH¢20.81 million (US$14.86 million), an increase of 65.48 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2009 value of GHc12.57 (US$8.98 million). The FDI component of the estimated value of the projects was GHc225.88 million (US$16134), representing 85.75 percent of the total estimated value, an increase of 876.04 percent compared to GH¢ 23.14 million (US$16.53 million) recorded for first quarter, 2009. The local currency component amounted to GHc37.34 million (US$26.82million) representing 14.25 percent of the total estimated value. Total number of new projects recorded for the period came to 108, an increase of 208.57 percent compared to 35 new projects registered in the first quarter of 2009. Total number of jobs expected to be created by the first quarter investments is 6,122, representing an increase of 66.90 percent over the 3,668 expected jobs for the first quarter of 2009. Total number of projects registered for the whole of 2009 was 257 with a total estimated value of GHc867.98 million (05$619.99 million). Of the 257 registered projects, 167 were wholly-owned foreign enterprises and 90 were joint ventures between Ghanaians and foreign partners, with a value of GHc527.27 million (05$376.62 million). Source: B&FT