By Samuel Akumatey
Ho, Sept. 01, GNA – Mr Divine Bosson, Ho Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has pledged the commitment of the Assembly to provide the needed environment and the ambience for strategic investment partnerships.
He said the Assembly seeks strategic partnerships to transform the Municipality into a business hub, and would build grounds for the development of strategic sectors of its economy.
The MCE was addressing the opening of the maiden Ho Tourism, Real Estate and Investment Expo, which is on the theme “Positioning the Oxygen City, Ho, for Infrastructural Development and Tourism.”
“The Ho Municipal Assembly is ready to create the ambience for strategic partnerships in agriculture, tourism, real estate, and become the business hub in Volta Region and Ghana as a whole,” he stated.
Mr. Bosson said the agrarian Municipality remained a ripe area for investors, and appealed to potentials to consider the strategic location and expanding infrastructure.
“We as a Municipality, we are ready to lead potential investors to establish in our Municipality and to make it big. Ho is projected to be the best destination for capital deployment”.
The MCE said the Expo was therefore a “dream come true” – a strategic move to boost entrepreneurship through technological innovation, towards economic empowerment and the eradication of poverty.
He said stakeholders considered the fair as a launchpad for development, and that the event had “come to stay”, mentioning sponsorship agreements with some companies for a five-to-10-year period.
Mrs, Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, Namibian Ambassador to Ghana, who opened the expo, said Ho had what it takes to become the tourism Hub of Ghana, and had the “soul and the spirit to drive tourism.”
She challenged the city to take ‘full advantage” of the African continental free trade, which she said was instrumental in growing development collaboration across the continent.
“Africa must not sleep through the industrial revolution. We must think through to find a solution to our challenges,” the Ambassador said, asking the youth to network and exchange information to enhance social and economic development
She called for a consideration of agriculture as the main avenue to security and employment, and to seek ways to fully leverage technology in making the most of the sector.
Mrs. Ashipala-Musavyi said Ho was on the path to becoming the biggest investment hub in Ghana, and that stakeholders should continue to encourage youth entrepreneurship.
She mentioned how a “twining agreement” between Ho and an equally stated district of Namibia should be considered, and promised to personally lead the initiative.
Dela Gadzanku, Chairman of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in the Eastern, Volta and Oti Regions, and which was a major partner on the event, said the fair marked a “memorable moment” in the journey to the transformation of the economic landscape of the Region.
He said there existed a “steady improvement” in the economic indicators in the Region, and was a “trend that inspires optimism for the future, and pays tribute to the hard work, brilliance and excellent workmanship of all the actors in the business ecosystem.
“This sends a strong signal that success is within our reach if we direct our creativity towards productive, smart solutions”.
Mr. Gadzanku said the Region must “cast the net wider to capture and nurture fledgling businesses in emerging sectors, and fervently promote investment in small and medium enterprises, which are still not the favorite target of investors”.
He noted how the “neglect” of SMEs affected the growth of the Region’s economy, and that trade events were among key initiatives towards encouraging and enhancing their growth.
“This effort represents our best chance of building a diversified economy, enhancing inclusivity and driving competitive innovation in our various industries,” he said, noting how the expo showcased the richness of a “dynamic local economy”, and that the economic ventures and services being flaunted motivated the efforts by stakeholders including the AGI at promoting the Region to the world.
He said while the Region oozed growth prospects in prime sectors including agribusiness, ICT and tourism, financing remained the main challenge, and held back inputs including higher branding.
Akofa Dokosi, Deputy CEO of the Ghana Tourism Development Company, said tourism’s dependence on agriculture placed Regions like Volta in strategic spots, and that stakeholders must work to enhance linkages between the two sectors to stimulate the local economy.
She commended efforts to put together the fair, and called on the private sector to support the initiative.
The fair is a two-week event which begun on Monday August 29, and had been interjected into the month long Asogli Yam Festival, which had commenced about two weeks prior.
More than 200 exhibitors, of which about half were SMEs and startups, are lined up at the Jubilee Square in Ho.
Financial institutions including the Ghana Exim Bank, Stanbic, and Cal Bank, supported the fair, and pledged continuous assistance for the SME sector in the Region.
Mama Attrato II, a Queenmother of the Asogli State, who chaired the opening of the fair, said the MCE should be encouraged to continue plans for the advancement of the Municipality, and said events should continue to encourage development and youth empowerment.
GNA