Parliament is considering a bill which would enable the government to guarantee loans for small and medium scale enterprises to enhance their operations, Professor Kassim Kasanga, Minister of Lands and Forestry announced in Accra.
Beneficiaries of the scheme would include people engaged in furniture and wood processing who would be able to utilise lesser-used wood and add more value to their products.
Professor Kasanga said this in a speech read for him at the opening of a 10-day local furniture and wood products exhibition in Kumasi. The exhibition is jointly organised by the Furniture and Wood Products Association of Ghana and the Small Scale Carpenters Association in conjunction with the Timber Export Development and Forest Products Inspection Divisions of the Forestry Commission.
It is on the theme: "Conserving Ghana's Forests Through More Value Addition With Increased Use of Lesser-known Species" and has brought together 32 exhibitors from the Ashanti Region.
Professor Kasanga said the government would support Furniture and Joinery Manufacturers to achieve the objective of developing Ghana's timber industry, particularly "our value-addition guiding principles"
The Minister commended the planning council of the exhibition for taking the initiative to complement government's efforts at promoting value addition and the use of lesser-known species by small enterprises for job creation and poverty alleviation.
Mr Boniface Abu-Bakar Saddique, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry said his Ministry, in conjunction with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the International Network For Bamboo and Rattan was exploring the possibility of using bamboo as an alternative and ideal substitute for timber. He said at the request of the Ministry UNIDO had adopted the bamboo project under its integrated programme and was creating an awareness of the potentials of the bamboo industry from plantation development to industrial processing.
