Monrovia – The Liberia Business Association (LIBA) has commended President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for issuing Executive Order 89, which captures important measures that benefit the private sector.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway, Jr – [email protected]
LIBA’s Secretary General Leelai Kpukuyou told FrontPageAfrica, “As we reviewed the contents of the President’s Executive Order #89, we saw key issues addressed that impact positively on the domestic private sector of which the Liberian Business Association is the lead player.
Against this background, the leadership and members of the Liberian Business Association are particularly grateful to Madam President for the measures taken on tax clearance, tax penalty and interest, import permit declaration (IPD) and protection for domestic manufacturers.”
Ms. Kpukuyou said Executive Order #89 would be very helpful in addressing issues confronting importers.
According to her, LIBA looks forward to seeing a detailed import permit schedule published by the Ministry of Commerce and Industrialization as directed by the President.
She added that the waiver of tax penalty and interest comes as a relief to almost all Liberian-owned businesses.
“We are all witnesses of the economic situation facing this country, which poses many challenges to the Liberian business community in general. With this situation, it became obvious, but not deliberate, that Liberian business people would delay in meeting their tax obligation and penalty and interests keep accruing,” she added.
She, however, noted that LIBA has encouraged all her members throughout the country, who currently have outstanding taxes at Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), that have been subjected to assessment of penalty and interest, to settle their outstanding as soon as possible to benefit from the waiver order.
The LIBA Secretary General said as Liberia transitions from one elected government to another, the relevance of LIBA in the process cannot be overemphasized.
She called on whichever government that would take over from President Sirleaf to open the doors and maintain the corridors that President Sirleaf created.
“We are therefore calling on the incoming leadership to open the doors and maintain the corridor that has already been created for constructive engagement with the private sector”.
She said with government’s support, LIBA can build a vibrant domestic private sector that will contribute significantly to the growth and development of economy.