body-container-line-1
01.08.2009 Business & Finance

Light industrial park to be established at Anomabo

01.08.2009 LISTEN
By gna

Accra, July 30, GNA – Vice President John Mahama on Wednesday held discussions with a Ghanaian-Korean business team which is to establish an industrial enclave in the Anomabo area of the Central Region to create 2,400 jobs.

The team included Nana Aggrey, Mpuntuhene of the Anomabo Traditional Area, Mr Kim Dong Kyu, Head of the Korean Business Group (KBG) and Mr Karl Steingruber, Chairman of Blue Jeans Energy Company.

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, led the group to the Castle. Their meeting with the Vice President was to present to him proposals for the establishment of the Anomabo enclave.

The industrial park which is to be situated on a 700, 000 acre land, will focus principally on agro-processing in the areas that the Anomabo people have a comparative advantage, such as processing citrus into fruit juices and detergents for exports.

Vice President Mahama said positive opportunities for growth are emerging from the global financial crisis and, as a result, the government is re-positioning itself to make the country an attractive destination for financiers, particularly those in the equity sector.

He said in line with this thinking, the government has adopted a “win-win” policy by which it would provide a productive platform for serious investors to partner it in areas that could have rapid and meaningful changes in the lives of the people.

Vice President Mahama expressed support for the project because of its far-reaching implication to provide jobs for the unemployed youth, in addition to adding value to locally grown fruits.

Such a move, he said, was in line with plans by the government to transform the economy from a primary producer to an exporter of processed goods.

In this regard, he said, government has initiated a number of steps including the newly created Western Development Authority, to speed up development in under-served communities in the Central and Western Regions, while at the same time engineering a transformation in the manufacturing sectors.

Vice President Mahama commended Cardinal Turkson for demonstrating the enthusiasm to combine his religious duties with efforts that are geared towards improving the living conditions of the people.

On his part, Mr Kim explained that the partnership seeks to apply Korean advanced technology to competitive industries in Ghana, in a bid to increase employment opportunities and to expand the economy drastically.

He said whilst Ghana lacked foreign marketing experience and processing industries, South Korea on the other hand has a competitive edge in industrial technology but lacked raw materials.

The partnership, therefore, seeks to bridge these gaps by combining the strengths of the two countries and make them a new model of development partnership.

Ghana's favourable labour market and abundant resources are in dire need of technological applications that would make them sell at reasonable prices on the international market, he added.

Nana Aggrey, Mpuntuhene of the Anomabo Traditional Area, said although the starting point of the light industrial park was on agro-processing, he envisaged that other specialized industrial entities would be roped in as the project expands.

GNA

body-container-line