Textile industry suffering even in Free Zone the state of textile and garment industry even in free zone enclaves is poor.
The minister for trade and industry, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah said this during a tour of the Tema Free Zone Enclave.
Ghana’s once vibrant textile industry has suffered, many reverses since the country adopted a liberalization programme.
Part of the liberalization programme was the creation of Free Zone enclaves to give selected industries advantages to make them internationally competitive.
But it seems even in the Free Zones, the textile sector is struggling. Dr. Spio-Garbrah during his tour, warned against illegal sub-leasing of government building saying that “instead of handing over buildings and plots to the Ministry, some companies have on their own decided to illegally rent out such government facilities to other companies.
He asked the industries to do self diagnosis and come out with appropriate growth oriented strategies, adding that government was bent on creating an enabling atmosphere for them to flourish.
The Trade Minister said government wants to support the manufacturing sector to make it a viable vehicle for job creation.
Despite the assertions of support, the local textile industry is finding the hard to compete against imports often smuggled in to avoid payment of taxes.
The phenomena is also having a negative impact of the industries in Free Zones as their product originally meant for a depressed export market, is also finding it hard to find space in the domestic market.
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