The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has asked government to grant all domestic manufacturing start-ups a five-year tax holiday while it takes steps to impose a minimum duty of 20 per cent on imported finished products which could be manufactured locally. Similarly, the association is calling for a special tax to be put on all advertisements of imported finished goods. These recommendations are part of AGI's proposals for consideration into the 2007 Budget to be presented on Thursday November 16. Briefing members of the Parliamentary Select Committees on Trade, Industry and Tourism and Finance on the proposals, Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, President of AGI said the time had come for government to adopt deliberate policies to encourage domestic manufacturing firms to contribute to the growth of the economy. This he said, was necessary to ensure that domestic companies did not only reduce their cost of doing business but also improved their productivity to stand the competition in the global environment. "Any measure that will encourage manufacturing companies to increase their contribution to the national economy is welcomed," he said. Mr. Oteng-Gyasi said AGI was seeking the withdrawal of duty on all imported raw materials because imposition of taxes at the production stage turned to increase the cost of manufacturing and make the goods uncompetitive to imported ones. He said the association held the view that shifting the tax from production to consumption would drastically reduce the cost of business and make the companies to become competitive. Other concerns of the AGI are the delay in the payment of duty drawback, which it said, should be fast tracked, abolishing of the National Reconstruction Levy and other charges that it said, were impacting negatively on their cash flow. Mr. Oteng-Gyasi also drew attention to high GCNet charges and called on government to abolish the ad valorem charges and fix minimum and maximum levels of fees that could be paid by the importers. He urged the Parliamentarians to study the Association's proposals and bring their concerns raised to bear on the debate on the budget on the floor of the House. Source: GNA