Accra, Nov. 1, GNA - The Second West Africa Project Fair and National Immunization Days of Rotary International opened on Wednesday with a call on Rotarians to invest more in developing countries to bridge the poverty gap.
Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Diasporean Relations, who made the call said Ghana was a rewarding investment destination, urging the Rotarians to look at Ghana's wealth creation needs.
=93Help create a chain of wealth rather than a chain of poverty. Invest in skills and resources and make poorer countries become a part of the wealthy class,=94 he said.
The West African Project Fair is aimed at developing partnership with their fellow Rotarians in selecting viable projects to be financed through the Rotary Foundation.
The fair, which brought together about 142 participants from the US, Canada, Holland and England had about 51 African countries exhibiting project proposal for the consideration of Rotary Foundation. Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said poorer countries
had a competitive advantage in areas like agriculture and encouraged members of the Rotary club to familiarize themselves with countries in Africa and understand that it was not all African countries that have wars, children dying from hunger and flies hovering around them. =93You are giving us fish and we appreciate it but what we need is to know how to fish,=94 The Minister said, expressing appreciation to Rotary Ghana and Rotary International for the support in immunization programmes and other community projects.
He asked participants to stay long in the country to visit tourist sites.
Mr Humberto Bettencourt, District Governor of Rotary International, said the fair was an opportunity to exchange ideas and promote togetherness and commended the West African clubs for their effort in the preparation of the project proposals.
Mr. Robert Atta, Chairman of the West Africa Project Fair Committee, said Rotary Foundation aimed at creating peace by supporting rural community projects while he defined peace as a situation where all parties get satisfied with projects and not just the absence of war. The Rotary Foundation is also in to help with the ongoing immunization programme.
