February 23, 2011 Kumasi, Feb 22, GNA - a website, "ashantimanufacturers.com," was on Tuesday inaugurated in Kumasi as part of an aggressive push to open up more business opportunities for small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Ashanti.
It was developed by Made in Afrika Investment Limited, a business consultancy firm.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, in an address read for him, noted the dramatic change in the mode of transacting business world-wide, with many enterprises now increasingly taking advantage of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) to reach out to customers and clients.
Ghanaian SMEs could not afford to be left behind and should therefore be given the needed training, support and encouragement to enhance their operations through ICT.
He said the technological bridge between the local SMEs and the global market needed to be closed to facilitate the marketing of their products and services.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu praised the enterprises for their immense contribution to job creation and the fight to reduce poverty. He appealed to financial institutions to complement government's efforts at creating business-friendly environment through soft loans.
Entrepreneurs should also be assisted to acquire the requisite skills in management, marketing and planning to become more competitive.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu commended the Association for Small Scale Industries (ASSI) for teaming up with Made in Afrika Investment Limited to develop the website and appealed to local entrepreneurs to use it to reach out to customers abroad.
Mr Kofi Bucknor, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company, called on SMEs to open up and form partnerships to help them share knowledge and also access credit.
Mr Kwame Bour, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ASSI, said many entrepreneurs are unable to sustain their businesses because they found it difficult to market their products.
He therefore described the website as timely since it would create opportunities for them.
GNA
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