singapore hotel: Singapore points out cheap source of funds

Thứ Sáu, 19 tháng 7, 2013

Singapore points out cheap source of funds

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The investment agency of the Government of Singapore, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, has advised the Government of Ghana to leverage on the goodwill of Singapore to attract cheaper funds into the country.

The Centre Director of IE Singapore, Ian Lee, who is in charge of Middle East Africa, told the BFT in an interview in Accra that Singapore’s country rating of AAA has made it an ideal place for global enterprises to do business, which Ghana can take advantage of to also attract cheaper funds as well as multinationals.

IE Singapore has identified three areas that it believes the Government of Ghana must focus on in order to attract cheap funds and investments from Singapore to the country.

These areas, which the investment agency tags ‘the three superhighways,’ include financial services, human resource and trade.

“Some of the things that are inhibiting companies in Singapore from investing in the country are that the superhighways are not there. So Ghana must be opened to work with us to create these super highways, especially for trade and double tax avoidance, and then more money will come.

“There are more than 4,000 American and European companies in Singapore, 9000 Chinese and Indian companies and 160 Singaporean companies all in Singapore. Once you create these super-highways — the banking, human and trade, all these companies in Singapore will look to come to Ghana.

“So Ghana must use Singapore’s magnet and status as global hub for businesses to push and attract these multinational companies to Ghana,” he said.

IE Singapore is mandated under the Trade and Industry Ministry of Singapore to promote trade and investments for Singaporean companies. IE Singapore is required to push Singaporean companies to invest in other regions of the world due to the small land size of Singapore, inhabited by about five million people.

Mr. Lee said the Government of Singapore has chosen to open its second office on the continent after South Africa because of the strategic competitive advantage that Ghana has over other African states, which include the English language, political stability and the geographical location of Ghana on the GMT time-zone.

He said many businesses would want to take advantage of the Ghana’s competitive advantage to invest in the country if the super highways are built, especially the financial super-highway.

“How to attract more money into Ghana is to identify where the money is going to. Right now, the funds are not going to the European Union, which has BB+ rating. The funds are going to emerging economies in Asia, particularly Singapore which has a country rating of AAA.

“Ghana must look at where the money is flowing and think about how to build the super-highways to tap into the funds that are going to Singapore.

“There are two ways to build the financial super-highway to improve on Ghana’s country ratings; tell investors Ghana is open to business and also improve on the monetary policy regime to let investors know whether money can flow into the country freely and easily.

“One other way to also build the financial super-highway and attract cheap funds is to leverage on Singapore. Educate and entice Singapore investors to come to Ghana and there will be a lot of FDI here,” he added.

IE Singapore’s regional office in Accra will be opened officially next week, and will also see the establishment of business offices by 11 Singaporean companies that are billed to do business in the ports and logistics, manufacturing and oil and gas sectors.

Mr. Lee said IE Singapore Centre in Accra is working to bring in more companies from Singapore to invest in Ghana, and wants the areas identified as the super-highways to be built to facilitate FDI from Singapore.

He said the Centre is trying to negotiate with Standard Chartered Bank to help build the financial super-highway to enable businesses have easy access to cheaper funds in Singapore, in order to avoid borrowing from local banks in Ghana at 23% when the borrowing rate in Singapore is less than 5%.

“This financial super-highway is my biggest problem. To bring in Singaporean companies, the path must be made smooth for them to come and invest.

“The second super-highway is human capital. The human flow is important and gives advantage to Ghana because Ghanaians go to Singapore without a visa and vice versa. That ensures free flow of human resource.

“The third super-highway is trade. Open up the economy. Singapore has a lot of free trade agreements because we believe in an open economy.

“All these super-highways must be created so that more investments will come in. There are a lot of cheap funds in emerging economies such as Singapore,” he explained.

By Evans Boah-Mensah