The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi has expressed regret that while stronger economies were protecting their local companies, Ghana’s economy had been overly liberalized. Citing Japan as a developed nation protecting its local industries, Mr Oteng-Gyasi said although that country was one of the richest countries in the world, its economy was the least liberal. He wondered why a weak economy such as Ghana’s would be too liberal and allow the unhindered influx of foreign companies and goods into the country. Mr Oteng-Gyasi was speaking on Joy FM’s award winning Super Morning Show hosted on Monday by Evans Mensah. “In India, the government reserves a portion of all procurements for Small Scale Industries,” he stated, emphasizing that the complaints by local companies in Ghana about governments’ failure to protect them is justified. On the question of local companies being marginally expensive, the AGI President said the payment of import duties on raw materials by local companies was to blame. The government, he argued must realize that even if it is slightly expensive to engage local businesses in procurement, there are rippling benefits to the economy as many people get employed. According to him, although laws and regulations formulated by governments were well intentioned, with time, such laws and regulations had not yielded the desired economic benefits. Mr Oteng-Gyasi was also not happy about the bundling of various components of a contract and giving all to one contractor. That, he said, made it difficult for local companies to compete with their foreign counterparts. He called on the government to break down huge contracts into components such that local businesses can bid for them effectively and stand the chance of winning the contracts. The Managing Director of Lowe Lintas, Mrs Norkor Dua, agreed largely with Mr Oteng-Gyasi but said some Ghanaian businesses do not just want to do what is right. The Marketing Woman of the Year 2008 at the 20th Chartered Institute of Ghana National Performance Awards (held on Saturday) said regardless of the bottlenecks in doing business in Ghana, it is possible to break through with the right attitude. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline/Ghana