Deputy Trade and Industry Minister, Robert Ahomkah-Lindsay has reaffirmed government's decision to provide a factory in each district of the country.
The deputy Minister insists despite all the seeming challenges and backlash the government has received from some sceptics, government is committed to providing the factories in the districts by 2020.
The One-District-One-Factory policy of the government is one of several campaign promises by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the run-up to the 2016 polls.
Robert Ahomkah-Lindsay buttressing his assurance disclosed that construction of 50 of the factories have begun adding that banks are currently evaluating the viability of 100 more which are most likely to get the nod in the near future.
The Deputy Minister observed that currently, some businesses are busily putting `in place measures that will ensure the sustainability of their enterprises including establishing plantations around the country.
The policy, he said, being private sector driven means that government has to put in place right environment for the private sector to respond which is what is happening.
"When you are in the private sector one of the most important thing you need to understand is what direction government policies, directions is being provided. By the clear direction of industrial transformation set by our president, the One District One Factory which my Minister, Hon. Alan Kyerematen has been asked and tasked to deliver, when you do that it is like a call to arms, and everybody says okay now this is where we are putting our efforts. As we speak now companies up and down the country are busily doing what companies do best which is creating jobs, building the factories, putting plantations in place and we mention that over 50 have started, we have more than 100 in the banking fraternity right now looking to get approval for their investment and I started by saying we will deliver what we said" Ahomkah-Lindsay told media.
Government he noted is showing its commitment to the policy through the incentives and attractive offers it's offering investors to join the industrialisation drive.
He urged the public to keep their hopes alive as it will take time before people will begin to see the fruit of the initiative.
The deputy Minister averred that the business world is competitive and the constant change in trends means businesses need to start off on a sound note to ensure the prolonged existence and not get kicked out of the market.
"We live in such a competitive world if you are not innovative you will die so some of the biggest companies we had in the world today, don't exist. 20 years ago there was ENRON, this was the largest company in the world, today it does not exist. 20 years ago the largest companies in the world were not google or Amazon, they were in their infancy. So because we live in that era this era today what we must learn to understand is that this process of industrial transformation is a process and not an end in itself. Companies continually have to improve and we as government continuously have to provide the incentive to engage. Our president has been commissioning and will continue to commission" he asserted.
1, 500 NaBCo beneficiaries to be support industrial transformation drive
Government as part of efforts to ensure efficient running system intends to utilise the services of 1500 beneficiaries of its job-creating initiative, NaBCo.
These 1, 500 graduates who were qualified under the Enterprise Ghana module of the scheme will be posted to institutions under the Ministry of Trade and Industry to support in quality assurance and standardisation activities.
The Deputy Trades Minister explained, "Enterprise Ghana is particularly important because there we are working with the private sector and within that area we have a number of graduates that are being targeted at a group within Enterprise Ghana which we call Standardise Ghana Group. Standardise Ghana Group is made up of Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Exports Promoting Authority, Food and Drugs Authority, PPRSD of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Factories Inspectorate. Because we realise that our industrialisation programme is critical and because we realise that quality is at the crux of any production we have set up the industrial Standardise Ghana Group within the Enterprise Ghana programme where a number of graduates appropriately qualified are being attached to GSA, GEPA and others with the viewpoint of helping them perform their role within the industrial transformation agenda. "
Celebrating 10years of cooperation towards quality
Ahomkah-Lindsay was speaking during a media interaction on the sidelines of a programme organised to celebrate ten years of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) work under the Trade Capacity Building programme in Ghana.
The initiative launched in 2007 has so far assisted several Ghanaian companies and state agencies improve their operations and service delivery to international standards and equipped them with state of the art tools necessary for their work.
Some of the institutions that have benefitted from the UNIDO-TCB include Ghana Standards Authority, Food and Drugs Authority, Tekura, Abuesi Fish Processing, Qualiplast Ltd, Niche Confectionary and WAD African Foods Ltd.
The initiative is highly supported and partnered by the Swiss Government and the event was witnessed by the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Markus Dutly and UNIDO rep to Ghana Fakhruddin Azizi and Project Manager of the Trade Capacity Building Programme in Ghana Juan Pablo Davila.
