Barring any unforeseen economic down turn, vehicles locally assembled in Ghana will attract no VAT.
This is according to Ghana’s president Nana Akuffo Addo who has reiterated his commitment to waive tax on all brands of domestically assembled vehicles in Ghana.
The President, while commissioning a state-of-art assembly plant constructed by Rana motors at Amasaman in Accra, on Tuesday 2nd May,2013, said, he has charged his finance minister Ken Ofori Atta to submit to Parliament the required legislative framework for this to become a reality.
However,if Government carries through and succeeds with the proposed legislation, there would be zero VAT on all domestically assembled vehicles in Ghana.
New Rana Motors Assembly Plant
A Local licensed dealer for the Korean automobile Kia Company, Rana motors, has opened by far the largest assembly plant to assemble different types of Kia brands for the estimated 1.3 billion West African market.
The plant described as the biggest ever constructed in history of Ghana has the highest quality of modern equipment.
The plant constructed by Korean engineers and their Ghanaian counterpart is “certainly unique in every way” and can be described as the biggest to be constructed in the history of Ghana with the highest quality of modern equipment.
“This plant is of the same high standard quality, same controls and assessment, consumers can be 100 percent assured of quality and performance” Chief Operating Officer of Rana motors Kassem Odaymat announced during the colorful commissioning ceremony.
The Rana motors new Amasaman branch is a one-stop hub and a center of excellence embodying vehicles and related accessories.
Rana motors can now boost of five modern showrooms and workshops equipped with latest diagnostic and repair equipment, 10 mobile workshops and a host of highly skilled engineers and workforce in the Accra, Tema, Spintex, Kumasi and Takoradi branches.
The ambassador of the republic of Korea, His Excellency Lim Jung-Taek addressing gatherings at the opening ceremony indicated that the assembly plant will provide an opportunity for Ghanaian people to acquire technology and skills to manufacture their own vehicles as well as create an environment for Ghana to own its automotive industry.
The state-of-the-art facility is capable of producing more than 35,000 vehicles per year and will almost double Ghana’s local manufacturing capacity
Rana motors has invested several millions of dollars in setting up the factory and It hopes to take advantage of the skilled workforce, tax benefits and Ghana’s fast-growing demand for reliable new vehicles.
The new plant will not only allow Kia to try and acquire a greater market share in Ghana, it will also give it access to the rest of West Africa.
Used car imports dwarf the country’s domestic manufacturing, which produces only 6,550 vehicles per year.
The United States (US) International Trade Association (ITA) estimates that Ghana imports around 100,000 vehicles, around 90% of which are used vehicles from Japan, Europe, and the US.
Kia is the fourth largest global vehicle manufacturer.
The company joins other global car brands including Toyota, Suzuki, Nissan, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Sinotruck among others who have already established assembly plants in the country.
Story: Coffie Emmanuel/Radiogoldlive.com
