By Prince Acquah
Cape Coast, Dec 15, GNA – Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, has urged citizens to eschew “acrimony and antagonistic behaviours” and unite to exploit the country’s cultural resources for sustainable socio-economic development.
He said tourism, arts and culture were Ghana’s only inexhaustible resources, which could significantly turn the fortunes of citizens around if well harnessed.
He, therefore, called on industry stakeholders to be innovative and leverage the rapid globalisation and robust technological advancement to create and sell products of international standards to the global market.
“Arts and culture are rich and unique heritages bequeathed to us by our forefathers and if we are able to programme our minds very well, they will definitely bring us happiness and economic benefits,” he said.
“Let us therefore make frantic efforts to protect and preserve them for the sake of prosperity.”
Mr Darko-Mensah said this at the ongoing National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) in Cape Coast.
The festival is celebrated every two years on rotational basis to provide a platform for showcasing the diversity and richness of the country’s ethnic and regional cultures to stimulate peace and unity.
This year’s celebration marks the 60th Anniversary of the event, on the theme: “Reviving Patriotism, Peace and Unity through Cultural Diversity for Sustainable Development”.
The Regional Minister described the theme as appropriate considering the “myriad of unpatriotic deeds” confronting the country and urged the citizenry to revive the spirit of patriotism, peace and unity to develop the nation.
He noted that the Western Region was endowed with rich cultural heritage and numerous tourism potentials, which must be invested in.
In view of that, he said the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) had embarked on a project to make the Takoradi Port a cruise-ship port hub for West Africa, and that three cruise ships had already arrived in the region.
Mr Darko-Mensah touted his region as the most economically active in Ghana with agriculture and industry featuring prominently in the its activities.
It was endowed with educational institutions providing the human resource base of the country.
It also produced coconut, cocoa, oil palm, rubber, among others in large quantities and possessed a large variety of minerals including gold, manganese, oil and diamond.
He urged tourists and potential investors to visit the region and do business with it.
GNA