The Vice President who was speaking at the Ghana-Malta Business Forum to engage entrepreneurs in Accra on Thursday said the government was confident that Maltese investors would find Ghana a welcoming home and a place to do business and especially as a base to invest in the rest of Africa.

“The Government under President Nana Akufo- Addo has declared that we want to make Ghana not only the most people friendly country in Africa but the most business friendly country in Africa,” he added.

He said government had moved quickly, since it came into power six months ago to putting flesh to the idea of making Ghana the most business friendly country in Africa so that ”we can get the private sector moving”.

He said one of the key areas in making Ghana the most business friendly country in Africa was to ensure and sustain macro-economic stability and without macro-economic stability the country would not go far.

“We also want to make very clear that the era of reckless borrowing is over and with this tight fiscal discipline, government borrowing will reduce and that means we will create the space for the private sector to be crowded in and get more access to finance,” he said.

Vice President Bawumia said government was moving away from the focus on taxation to production, hence the removal of about 15 nuisance taxes in the 2017 budget. “We do like tax revenue but we want the businesses to make the revenue first before we tax them. We do not want to tax them before they make the revenue. So it is a philosophical change and I think we are moving in the right direction in this issue,” he added.

He said government had embarked on extensive investment investments in hard and soft infrastructure that placed Ghana at the heart of trade and investment flows in the region with the view of making Ghana the hub of logistics transportation, financial industrial, oil and gas and trade hub in the West African sub- region.

The visiting Maltese President, Mrs Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, said like Ghana, Malta was politically stable and registering significant progress over the years. She said her presence with the Maltese Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotions beared witness to the strong and growing bilateral relations.

She said it was also evidence of Malta’s willingness to enhance the friendship that existed between the two countries.“We come to Ghana with a message of friendship with the political will and with the determination to transform our excellent diplomatic relations into effective business collaborations and partnerships for the benefit of our respective business communities and for the prosperity of our two nations,” she added.

She said the growing relationship between the two countries across social, economic and political spheres of influence was now even stronger with the opening of the high commission for Ghana in Malta with a resident high commissioner.

The President said the establishment of a Malta Ghana joint technical commission was another important development in the relations of the two countries. She said both countries were committed in the areas of human resource development, education and Ghana’s health sector provided an opportunity for the Maltese government to take advantage of.

She called on stakeholders from both countries to exchange ideas in a way to continue to provide development to their various countries to better the lives of their people.  “We must continue to strengthen culture and economic ties and values that bring the two countries together,” she added. Meanwhile, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Association of Ghana Industries signed separate Memorandum of Understanding with their Maltese counterparts.

The Maltese President is in the country for a three-day State visit and is leading a delegation of business people looking to explore opportunities for investment in Africa.She and her spouse would also visit Kumasi on Thursday, July 27, where she is expected to pay a call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Manhyia Palace, and the Hope X Change Medical Centre, an 80-bed hospital initiated by Malta.

President Preca would also visit Cape Coast, the Osu Children’s Home and take part in a business forum also in Accra.