The Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, says government will establish 10 new industrial parks across the country as part of plans to create jobs and effectively anchor government’s industrialisation programme.
The Minister, who made the disclosure at the maiden National Policy Summit organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra, said each of the 10 regions would have one park with the requisite facilities and flexible land schemes to facilitate the setting up of various industries.
Industrial parks, special economic zones, eco-industrial parks, technology parks, and innovation districts have been promoted as cornerstone strategies for economic development in countries around the world.
Most countries in Asia, such as China and Thailand, have large industrial parks and zones which underpin their manufacturing operations.
Ghana’s model is expected to create thousands of jobs for Ghanaians.
Mr Kyerematen explained that the move is geared towards enhancing industrial production across the 10 regions and generally promoting the country’s exports.
“One other component of our transformation agenda is to establish at least one major industrial park in each of the 10 regions,” he stated.
The Minister maintained that if Ghana was to enhance industrial production then obviously access to lands, energy had to be a critical factor, adding that “that is why these industrial parks are actually important.
“We are actually going to aggressively promote export development because if you produce, you should be able to sell. Although we have what I believe is quite a significant market, it’s still limited so we want to aggressively promote exports to take advantage of the enhanced production that is coming up,” Mr. Kyeremanten explained
At the same event, the Association of Ghana Industries at the raised concerns about ensuring that a stable macro-economic reflects on the ground and affords industry the wherewithal to become profitable.
It’s President, Mr James Asare, called for commitment on the part of government to the promotion of local businesses.
The Finder