Trade Minister Designate Promises Aggressive Industrialization


The Minister-Designate for Trade and Industry Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, says the government will pursue an aggressive industrialisation program to promote "Made In Ghana Goods".

He said government will also create an enabling environment to ensure that local industries became very competitive in their delivery.

He said it was one of the most powerful tools for the creation of jobs through industrial transformation.

According to Mr. Kyerematen, this will require a minimum of one and half to two years for the first batch of the "One District One Factory" program to be ready.

He said, government is committed to working with the private sector to realise its vision of the One District- One Factory program; and that there was a lot of good will from the private sector towards this particular program. 

Mr Kyerematen said these on Monday in Accra, when he appeared before Parliament's Appointment Committee for the vetting of ministerial nominees. 

He said funds for the One District- One Factory programme would come from the "One Constituency One Million Dollar Project".

On the unit cost of the One District One Factory the Minister-Designate explained that it was when a business plan of a particular business enterprise in a particular District was completed that they would get to know the cost. 

Mr. Kyerematen said the One District- One Factory program was designed to create massive employment all over the country.

The vetting of ministerial nominees entered its third day with Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, Minister designate for the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as the first to be assessed by the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

Followed by Hajia Alima Mahama, the Minister designate for the Local Government and Rural Development, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, for the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Ministry and Boakye Agyarko, for the Energy Ministry.

The Committee,  is chaired by Mr. Joseph Osei Owusu, the Member of Parliament for Bekwai, and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, probed the nominees on the various policies and programs their ministries intend to implement.

So far, ten out of the 36 nominees have already appeared before the Committee, which started the vetting last Friday, January 20.


GNA