Trade Minister Calls for UNIDO Support to Feed the Industry Programme
The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has called on the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to support the government’s “Feed the Industry” programme as part of efforts to advance Ghana’s agribusiness and industrialisation agenda.
The Minister made the call when she received the Deputy Director-General of UNIDO, Dr Yuko Yasunaga, on a courtesy call in Accra.
“Government’s next budget focus is on agribusiness. As a ministry responsible for agribusiness, beyond industrialisation, raw materials will be made available to feed the industry. I therefore call on UNIDO to support the Feed the Industry programme,” she stated.
She welcomed UNIDO’s continued support through the Kaizen approach, noting that several individuals and institutions in Ghana have already benefited from Kaizen training programmes.
She said increased collaboration with UNIDO would help complement government initiatives, particularly in the agribusiness sector.
The Minister also expressed the government’s appreciation to the Japanese Government, particularly Japan’s Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Hiroshi Yoshimoto, for the continued partnership and support extended to Ghana.
She further welcomed the appointment of the new UNIDO Country Representative for Ghana and Liberia, H.E. Dr Emmanuel Kalenzi, and called for adequate resources and support to enable him to fulfil his mandate effectively.
For his part, Dr Yasunaga said UNIDO remains committed to supporting Ghana in co-developing industrial and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) policies anchored on the Kaizen principles of efficiency, continuous improvement, and productivity enhancement.
He explained that UNIDO is ready to expand the application of the Kaizen concept across various sectors of Ghana’s economy, including SMEs, agro-processing, automobile development, and institutional capacity building.
He added that this forms part of efforts to promote holistic and cross-cutting industrial policies for the country.
Adwoa Koramah Anokye – Gyimah, ISD
