Uphold Ghana's image through hard work -Tetteh

Accra, Nov 17, GNA- Ms Hannah Tetteh, Minister for Trade and Industry, has entreated Ghanaians working with multinational organisations to see themselves as ambassadors of the country and to uphold her image through hard work and integrity.

She said that the success or otherwise of their organisations depended on them and that it was important they delivered their best effort.

Ms Tetteh, speaking at the commissioning of Servair, an in-flight catering service at the Kotoka International Airport, on Wednesday, urged employees of Servair Ghana to be diligent in their work and demonstrate the qualities that showed that Ghana had the qualified skilled labour.

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Transport, in a speech read for him by Mr George Kuntu Blankson, Chairman of the Board of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), said the establishment of Servair Ghana was a manifestation of government's commitment to the creation of a conducive environment for sustained business and growth of the aviation industry in Ghana.

He said Ghana's implementation of the liberalised skies policy and the subsequent influx of airlines, leading to increased flights and a reduction in the cost of flying among others had also placed a strain on the airport's facilities and said the GACL and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority were developing the appropriate measures to improve the infrastructure to meet the growing demand.

Alhaji Dauda appealed to Servair not to compromise on its service quality and urged them to bring in new innovations into the aviation catering services that would promote competition in the industry.

Mrs Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Managing Director of GACL, said the commissioning was the first successful private public partnership project of the GACL and one of many scheduled to be undertaken at the airport in future including the construction of a transhipment cargo centre, airline office complex, airport business centre and offices for freight forwarders.

She described Ghana's aviation industry as one of the fastest growing and most competitive in the west African sub-region with the number of scheduled and non-scheduled carriers having doubled from 15 at the turn of the millennium to 38 in 2011.

Mr Patrick Alexandre, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Servair pledged his company's commitment to make Servair Ghana successful and thus contribute to the development of the airport.

He said that they would also help to drive Ghana's economy by giving preference to local suppliers and also incorporate Ghanaian cuisine into the food served, as well as provide employment for Ghanaians.

Servair, the parent company of Servair Ghana is a leading French airline catering and cleaning company, ranked third in the world and incidentally the third in-flight catering service in Ghana.

It operates through 60 establishments and the new Servair Ghana centre is the first Servair modular centre in Africa which meets international standards in food hygiene and safety.

GNA