Opening Remarks
Workshop on Cluster Based Industrial Development
(at Alisa Hotel, North Ridge, Accra, 16th February, 2007)
By
Hon. Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei
Hon Ministers;
Hon. Deputy Ministers;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Development partners;
Resources Persons;
Members of the press;
Ladies and gentlemen.
1. It is a great pleasure to have all of you here to participate in this all important workshop on “Cluster-Based Industrial Development”. This workshop could not have come at a better time than now as the country is pursuing policies and programmes geared towards achieving growth through wealth creation while reducing poverty with the aim of attaining a middle-income status by 2015 as enshrined in the GPRS II.
2. It is widely known that poverty in Ghana can be alleviated through increases in farm incomes as well as increases in non-farm incomes. The non-farm sector is usually dominated by small and medium scale enterprises which are usually labor-intensive. Such labor-intensive industries have immense capacity to generate employment opportunities for the poor.
3. Since developing countries like Ghana are well endowed with labor, we have a comparative advantage in labor-intensive industries under competitive conditions. Also enterprises in the same industries clustered in a small geographical place can take advantage of the benefits from agglomeration such as learning from each other, easy access to workers with the requisite skills, and transacting intermediate goods with others easily. In a nutshell enterprises in a cluster have the potential to create wealth, generate employment opportunities, and reduce poverty.
4. It is for these reasons that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning encouraged Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, during his graduate school days in Japan, to embark on a project on cluster-based industrial development in Ghana as part of his PhD research work.
5. Since 2004, he, together with his lead PhD supervisor, Prof. Tetsushi Sonobe has been engaged in empirical research on cluster-based industrial development in presumably one of the largest clusters in the African sub-region located in Suame, Kumasi by the name “Suame Magazine Industrial Complex”, called “Magazine” for short.
6. The Suame Magazine is a cluster of artisans engaged in vehicle repairs and metal works. I am reliably informed that the cluster has at least 12,000 enterprises with over 100, 000 artisans most of whom are the young.
7. The cluster has been a major source of skill formation and employment especially for the youth. As we all know, it is this government’s priority to empower the youth to enable them to contribute more productively towards the socio-economic and sustainable development of the nation through the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP). The Suame Magazine cluster has a role to play in this direction as well, and it is my belief that the empirical study on “Magazine” and those on Ethiopia, Tanzania, and East Asia to be presented to us today would be very useful in charting the way forward.
8. We believe that the cluster has the potential to develop into a successful case in Africa and even generate foreign exchange through exports if given the necessary support.
9. The right support must be guided by empirical studies. We are here today to deliberate and discuss the research findings from such a study. I am therefore appealing to all stakeholders including our development partners to take keen interest in today’s presentations and guided by the research findings, assist the cluster to unearth its potential and accelerate its path towards sustainable industrial development.
10. It is our hope that, the empirical work undertaken in “Magazine” by the two renowned Japanese Experts and our local expert will provide ample direction for support.
11. Without taking more time of yours, I would like to end here so that we can have more time to listen to the research presentations on Magazine and elsewhere. I will urge all of you to actively participate in this workshop and contribute meaningfully to the discussions of their research findings and the industrial development options for Ghana.
12. I thank you very much for your attention.
