Deputy Trade Minister appeals to industries to bear with gov’t

Mr Michael Okyere Baafi, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry (MOTI), has appealed to stakeholders in the economic industries to bear with the government during the current economic hardship the country was facing.

Mr Baafi, who is also the Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, said the government was doing its best to solve the issues, which he described as temporary and, therefore, the need for industry players to bear with the government.

He made the appeal during the maiden TMA’s ‘Tema Mayor’s Ball’ held in Tema with an aim of rallying support and goodwill from corporate institutions and industry players operating within the metropolis to help address developmental gaps in the harbour cum industrial city.

He noted that “we also want to assure you that what we are going through is temporal, and we believe that we will be able to surmount the challenges and things will be better tomorrow.”

Responding to issues of unfavourable economic effects on businesses in the country, the Deputy Trade Minister said, “we understand your frustrations, we understand you are losing, and we understand that inflation is causing you a lot.

“We understand the fluctuation in prices is creating problems for you, but we want you to bear with us that the situation as of now is not something we all envisaged, but it has happened what can we do, we have to find ways and means to address these issues”.

On the need for industries to support the TMA and the environment they worked in, he said the essence of companies setting up businesses and getting profit was to make sure that the citizens surrounding them and the environment also smiled.

Mr Baafi said the government was doing its part by giving industries and businesses tax exemptions and incentives to motivate them to do business, and therefore it was expected that they would affect their communities positively.

“I don’t think we have to struggle this much to get the attention of industry players. The government is giving all it can to make you happy. All these pressures you are giving us, the best you can also give us is to support us,” he stressed.

Mr Yohane Amarh Ashitey, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, presenting his vision dubbed “Make Tema Shine Again” to the industry players, said Tema’s population has increased from 25,000 in 1962 to almost 200,000, which has brought in its wake many developmental challenges that needed to be addressed.

Mr. Ashitey noted that the Assembly decided to engage and involve the industry in achieving the ‘Make Tema Shine Again’ agenda as they were the greatest asset the Assembly possesses as it does not have cash resources such as gold, timber, bauxite, and cocoa-like some sister assemblies.

The MCE, therefore, appealed to corporate institutions to use part of their budget for corporate social responsibility to help in bettering the education, health, security, tourism, environment, and sanitation sectors of the metropolis.