Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Silver Star Auto Ltd, Asad Nazir, has revealed that the free Value Added Tax (VAT) on locally assembled vehicles is a game-changer to saving Ghanaians a 12.5 percent of their income; hence, they should take advantage of it.
Due to the local assembly policy introduced by the government, this incentive, according to him, ranged between GH¢60,000 to GH¢100,000 on their models compared to imported ones.
“Imagine you bring a vehicle which is not assembled in Ghana. You have to pay 12.5 percent VAT on it; and you have a vehicle that is assembled in Ghana and there is zero VAT on it, why would you go and pay extra duties on imported vehicles in this tough time,” he said.
Mr. Nazir made this disclosure in an interview with the B&FT on Tuesday, during a working visit to its assembly plant in Tema by the French Chamber of Commerce, indicating that Ghana is on the path to attaining self-sufficiency through its Buy Ghana, Eat Ghana, and Wear Ghana Agenda. Therefore, Ghanaians should play a relentless role to help government achieve such worthy course by patronising locally produced items, especially vehicles which attracts no VAT.
General Manager of Japan Motors, Sales and Marketing Department, Amine Kabbara, noted that the company has invested in the assembly plant based on the promise from government after announcing the auto policy. However, they are waiting on government to also play its role in implementing the policy.
“This is key for the economic transformation of Ghana. Thankfully, other players are on board as well, but we are one of the first players to bring confidence to that agenda; so, the ball and eye is on the government to move to the next phase,” Mr. Kabbara said.
CCIFG members tour Silver Star Auto assembly line
Members of the French Chamber of Commerce (CCI France-Ghana) toured the assembly line of Nissan, Japan Motors, and Silver Star Auto Auto Ltd. in Tema.
This exercise was to familiarise themselves with the progress made so far on the local assembly of the Peugeot 3008 and the all-new one-tonne Peugeot pickup – the landtrek.
Members of the chamber had the opportunity to see the various processes that go into assembling the vehicles under strict European standards to ensure a consistent product performance across global markets.
Managing Director of the CCI France-Ghana, Armelle Sae-Jeane, said Nissan, Japan Motors and Silver Star Auto Ltd. are all members of the chamber, and they find it intriguing to visit member-companies and the biggest assembling plant in Ghana at the moment.
General Manager – Sales, Silver Star Auto Ltd, Akwar Siddiqi, added that the visit was key to sensitising their customer base about the assembling process on how the vehicles are assembled at the exact detailed international standard, and the quality checks in place.
“This kind of visit will instill confidence in the customer base as well as encourage volumes of vehicles assembled in Ghana by those who had invested in them to patronise them. There is a huge amount of strain in foreign reserves – foreign currency; so the more we assemble, the more we make and manufacture in Ghana, the better for the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Silver Star Auto is currently giving football enthusiasts the chance to win a brand-new Peugeot Landtrek Pickup while supporting a charity foundation.
Source: thebftonline.com
