Trade Ministry to partner C/R uproot poverty

Mrs. Ama Benyiwa Doe (middle), Daasebre Kwebu Ewusie VII, Omanhen of Abeadze Dominase (left) and Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa Traditional Area, jointly cutting the tape to open the fair

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms. Hannah Tetteh, has revealed that her ministry was making frantic efforts to partner the Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM) and Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), to help rid the region of the poverty staring the majority of residents in the face.

She said this would be done by harnessing the various potentials in the region, by establishing industries in every district to boost rural enterprises development.

In speech read on her behalf by the Central Regional Minister, Mrs. Ama Benyiwa Doe, at the opening of Central Expo 2010 Fair at Cape Coast on Tuesday, Ms. Tetteh, said it was not in place to state that the region was poor, because it had numerous opportunities that could be harnessed to uplift economic activities.

She said the high rate of poverty in the region could be attributed to poor roads, poor water supply, low living standards, and low investments in the region, calling for a radical approach to change the trend.

Ms. Tetteh said the government, in its industrialisation policy, would increase agricultural technology to ensure a constant supply of raw material to the rural industries, so as to expand the manufacturing sector which was capable of reducing unemployment. She said the government had also targeted an increase in earnings from non-traditional export commodities from US$1.2 to US$5 billion in 2015.

Delivering her own speech, Mrs. Ama Benyiwa Doe, who is also the Chairperson of the CEDECOM Board, said the Central Expo 2010 seeks to showcase the huge investment opportunities in the agro-processing and tourism sectors, for which the Central Region had comparative advantage.

She said there was the need to maximise the potentials of the two sectors, to enhance job creation, which, she said, was the main focus of the current administration.

She urged the region to position herself strategically to take advantage of the oil find in the Western Region, by offering recreation, leisure and accommodation to the large influx of people, both local and foreign, who would be attracted by the oil boom.

The President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, Daasebre Kwebu Ewusie, asked the residents of the Central Region to take advantage of the expo to invest in the various sectors.

Local products such as rice from Okyereko in the Gomoa East District attracted large attention from the people who inspected the exhibition mounted by the assemblies.

About 250 exhibitors are currently taking part in the fair, which is expected to last one week.