Parliamentary Sub-committees Discuss Policy Document

Accra (Greater Accra) 9 Dec.,

Dr.. John Abu, Minister of Trade and Industry, today said the Nation needs to place a high premium on entrepreneurship in her educational and curriculum reform programmes in order to inculcate entrepreneurial spirit into the youth. He said entrepreneurial development programmes must be taken a step higher with the objective of attracting a new type of entrepreneur, particularly the graduate with wider horizons, to take up self-employment through "The vehicle of micro and small enterprises (MSE'S)". These were contained in a speech read for him at a round table discussion on a policy on MSE development with parliamentary committees on trade and industry as well as employment and social welfare, held at Nungua, Near Accra. Organised jointly by the National Board for small scale industries (NBSSI) and the parliamentary committees, the discussion was aimed at getting members acquainted with the policy so that they could provide suggestions for its improvement, Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) is sponsoring the meeting. Dr.. Abu said the issue impending the development of SME'S which need to be address include lack of information on the sub-sector. Dr.. Abu said the sector's structure, components and operations are hardly researched and information on them are lacking. When information on these are available it would provide the surest basis for effective policy formation, monitoring, review and design of programmes to suit the needs of specific segments. The minister said efforts have been made to improve the management capacity of the MSE's but a lot remains to be done. Mr.. Peter schellschmidi, FES resident director, said in an employed becomes attractive. He said the challenge becomes greater in Ghana when viewed in the next few years. Dr.. Jesse O. Amuah, Deputy Executive Director, NBSSI, said the objective of the board is to make the document operational adding that this will give direction to the public.

Gri.