The Minister-designate for Trade and Industry, K.T Hammond says industrialisation is the bedrock on which Ghana can emerge from the current economic doldrums.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, the Adansi-Asokwa MP promised to revitalise small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to make them vibrant to contribute to the country’s economic development.
He promised to follow a white paper that already existed at the Trade Ministry which deals with how to properly define and deal with the technical and economic aspects of SMEs.
“There exists some white paper to deal with the technical and economic aspects of these enterprises,” Mr KT Hammond said, adding “Industrialisation is the way to go, all countries who have made it industrialised and we must do same”.
“If we had industrialised long ago we would not be in this current situation we found ourselves now, so we must industrialise,” he stated.
He told the Appointments Committee that he will seek funds to industrialise the raw materials in Ghana to create employment avenues for the teeming youth in the country.
The former Deputy Energy Minister also expressed disappointment over the country’s penchant for the importation of tripe locally called “yemuadie” and other goods.
“Why is it that everything you can think about is being imported into the country? These usually have terrible effects on our foreign exchange reserves. I think it’s about time we took a serious look at this particular issue. I’m told a committee was put up by cabinet to deal specifically with this matter.”