Polykraft Commissions ?3.1 Bil Plant

The Management of Polykraft Company Limited has commissioned a ?3.1 billion packaging plant at Tema. The plant is to facilitate the production of packaging materials for locally manufactured goods and agro-export commodities in Ghana.

The commissioning, performed last week, formed part of an expansion programme undertaken by the company to meet the increasing demand and quality required in the fruit and industrial manufacturing sectors. The plant is fully equipped with the state-of-the-art machinery to cater for both local and export markets.

Commissioning it, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Dan Abodakpi, commended the management of Polykraft for the huge investment into the packaging industry in the country. He said Polykraft's ability to put up the plant shows its leadership in the packaging industry in the country.

He said packaging is one of the identified priority sub-sectors of the government industrial development agenda, adding that his ministry is seeking to promote a system of production co-operation among small and medium scale firms in packaging. Mr. Abodakpi said the system is aimed at addressing export supply constraints imposed by small firms and to permit sharing of large export orders among small firms.

He said his ministry in collaboration with the Quality Assurance programme of the Ghana Standard Board, is also assisting Ghanaian exporters to meet the stringent quality standards of importing markets like the European Union. He urged all investors to move into the productive sectors of the economy rather than poliferation of trading activities.

The Minister said the upsurge of trading activities coupled with the weak productive base of the economy has resulted in heavy dependence on imported goods. Mr. Abodakpi said this has resulted in severe pressure on the cedi at a time when the economy is experiencing external trade shocks.

Mr. Anil Mohinnani, Director of Polykraft, said the company has a highly skilled management team and 125 Ghanaian employees who have been trained in the techniques of packaging design, fabrication and production.

He said the hallmark of Polykraft is quality-based on the utilisation of selected raw materials and stringent production checks, controls and testing processes. Mr. Mohinnani said the company plans to obtain the ISO 9002 certification of international standards by the middle of next year. He said it is achieved, Polykraft will be the first Box Plant outside South Africa to have accomplished it.

He said Polykraft has implemented a stringent environment action plan which involves converting paper waste into egg trays, pulp packaging and disposable plates.