Ganta, Nimba County – The Minister of Commerce has vowed to combat the importation into the Liberia goods that are locally produced.
Report by Franklin Doloquee, Contributor
According to Commerce Minister Wilson Tarpeh, the move by his Ministry aims at empowering local businesses, which are involved with the production of said products.
The Minister of Commerce named flour, certain kinds of biscuits among others as some of the items that would not be allowed to be imported into the country because they are being locally produced.
Min. Tarpeh made the pronouncement over the week-end in Ganta, Nimba County at the end of a three-day Business Climate Forum, organized by the Business Climate Working Group in Ganta, Nimba County.
The forum, which was held under the theme, “Resolving Challenges to Getting Credit; Resolving Insolvency, Enforcing Contract” was supported by Liberia Macroeconomic Policy Analysis Center, LIMPAC, National Port Authority (NPA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank-IFC, the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Liberia Petroleum Refining Corporation (LPRC), the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), among others.
According to the Minister of Commerce, the decision is intended to empower Liberian manufacturers involved with producing those items in the country.
Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Mr. Samuel Tweah, told the gathering, which included representatives of government ministries and agencies, that the Government of Liberia has vowed to empower the business community in Ganta.
The business climate forum also aims at gathering the views of others on the improvement of the business climate of the country.
The Finance and Development Planning Minister said there is the need for a collaboration of both public and private agencies in order to improve the system.
According to our Nimba Contributor, the forum is in line with the Coalition for Democratic Change’s (CDC) five-year development plan — “Pro-poor Agenda for Development and Prosperity (PADP),” which intends to build more capable and trusted state institutions for a stable, resilient and inclusive nation.
The Finance Minister noted that the goal of President Weah is to empower Liberians with the tools to gain control of their lives, reaching the farthest first and leaving no one behind and creating jobs and economic, sustaining the peace and government and transparency among others.
Also speaking, the President for the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), Mr. John B. S. Davies, III, stressed the need for more rural financial banking institutions in the country.
According to him, there are several criteria that must be observed in term of getting credit and improve the system.
Mr. Davies said the country does not have public and private credit registry that meets the benchmark criteria.
The LBDI head further stated that infrastructure also plays key role in obtaining credit.
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