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Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Kweku Ricketts Hagan has said tax breaks and other incentives that government extends to multinationals are meant to drive foreign direct investment into the country, and that they help develop the country in the long run. �You don�t give tax breaks forever. To attract huge investments at all times there has to be some incentives to entice them, and obviously at a point the policy will be looked at,� he told the B&FT at the ground-breaking ceremony for construction of a US$60million international logistics park. �The benefits we get from companies that ride on the back of tax incentives to come into this country are more significant than the amount of money we stand to lose in the short-term. They will create jobs, bring more companies and enhance the GDP of this country,� he said. �Don�t look at short-term revenue loss but look at what you gain in the end by giving that tax incentive. This is the first standard international logistics park being created in this region, and this is the first of many to come. It is a sign of confidence that international investors and multinational companies have in this country,� he added. The 40-acre international logistics park, to be financed by Agility -- a leading global logistics and logistics infrastructure provider, will be located at the Free Zones enclave in Tema, and will provide international standard logistics infrastructure to local, regional and global companies operating in Ghana. Civil Society Organisations have, over the years been criticising government for being too open-handed with the tax incentives it offers multinationals. In a research on Tax Justice, Action Aid Ghana (AAG), for example, indicates the popular assertion that tax incentives attract FDI is not true, but rather factors including skill-pool availability and social infrastructure services - such as good schools, good road networks, health facilities, and electricity -- are significant considerations for multinational companies when it comes to taking decisions on investment. The study estimated that Ghana is losing up to US$1.2billion annually as a result of tax incentives, with about US$90million lost between 2011 and 2012 in the mining sector alone as a result of stability agreements. In the oil and gas sector, the estimate is about US$70million in two years, resulting from an �ambiguous tax law� that could not be fully applied as a result of varied interpretations of the law. But the minister insists that to get giants like Agility to come and invest in the country incentives must be provided. Called the Agility Distribution Park, the facility is one of a series of logistics hubs that Agility is building across the African continent to provide international standard logistics infrastructure to local, regional and global companies operating in Ghana. Geoffery White, Chief Executive Officer of Agility Africa, said the company is a world-leader in developing logistics parks around the globe and is committed to developing a network of quality distribution parks in Africa. �By providing much-needed import and export routes in and out of Africa, Agility Distribution Parks will help companies operate in Africa with the reliable, modern and secure infrastructure they need to grow their businesses,� he said. He noted that quality logistics infrastructure is a key driver of new foreign direct investments, stimulating improved trade flows, prosperity and job-creation. �The park will focus on the provision of undisturbed power, IT connectivity and security for tenants and create an international platform from which companies can efficiently operate their businesses. Agility operates its own warehousing, and designs and builds warehouses on its distribution parks for third parties to specific individual customer specifications,� he added. Ernest Owusu-Afari, Executive Director of LMI Holdings -- parent company of Octoglow Ghana Limited, developer of 700 acres at the Tema Free Zones enclave, said bringing Agility to Ghana is a strategic move that will benefit the country. �As a global logistics group that handles the logistics of several multinational companies, Agility will be bringing many other multinationals into this country. Agility�s hub will become an easy and convenient hub for all their clients. Ghana will therefore become the hub for all these companies,� he added. The first phase of the park will be complete and operational in the last quarter of this year, and when fully occupied it will include 100,000sqm of bonded and non-bonded warehouses with ancillary services.