Trade Minister pays familiarization visits to sector agencies

The new Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. K.T. Hammond has been visiting some Agencies under the ministry a part of his first week in office.

According to the Minister, who admits that the Ministry is a very technical one, the visitation is part of efforts to make him appreciate at first had, the structure and internal workings of the Agencies, programmes and activities they are currently undertaking, challenges being encountered, and how his leadership can best aid the successful implementation of their mandates.

The Minister, accompanied by the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr. Patrick Yaw Nimo, first visited the Ghana Enterprises Agency, the agency responsible for implementing policies and programmes to nurture and spur the growth of micro, small and medium scale enterprises.

He commended the Management of the Agency, especially its Chief Executive, Mrs. Kosi Yankey Ayeh for coming up with attractive programmes such as the “Young Africa Works Programme”, “Enterprises Development Project”, YouStart”, among other programmes which have been able to attract funding from development partners such as the World Bank, among others and thus taking some financial pressures from central government.

At the Ghana Standards Authority, the Minister entreated management to create a congenial and people-centered environment that will encourage staff to feel at ease in coming to work so as to be able to give off their best.

He also called on them to ensure that proper standards are put in place and enforced to for Ghanaians to get value for money for products purchased, and also to enable Ghanaian companies take advantage of opportunities such as the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.

The Minister also visited the offices of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, the Ghana International Trade Commission (which aims at addressing unfair trade practices such as dumping, and providing appropriate remedies and sanctions where necessary).

His last point of call was the National Coordination Office of the African Continental Free Trade Area that seeks to provide the needed assistance to Ghanaian companies to gain market access to African markets, especially as Ghana has invested heavily to be able to host the secretariat of the continental trading body.

Later in the day, the Minister met with some companies under the Government’s flagship One District, One Factory programme to help provide solutions to some challenges being encountered by the specific companies.