Winneba (C/R), July 2, GNA - Dr Nii Moi Thompson, an economist, has urged Ghanaians to cultivate a development-oriented consciousness for reliable and sustained socio-economic advancement. He said God had provided the nation with all the good things such as fertile lands for agricultural development, gold and oil, which could be exploited to make life meaningful for its people. Dr Thompson, who is the International Labour Organization (ILO) National Co-ordinator for Ghana, was giving an overview of the institution's local economic initiative at an orientation and technical training workshop at Winneba.

He said it was, therefore, unacceptable for the citizenry to attribute the increasing socio-economic challenges confronting the nation to witches and demons.

Dr Thompson said for Ghanaians to accrue maximum financial and social benefits from its numerous natural resources, they must first of all learn to accept and practice the natural laws governing the universe.

The citizenry, he urged, should also make hard work, honesty and dedication their watchwords throughout their life time. He cited Korea, China, Japan and Malaysia, which hitherto were underdeveloped and said they succeeded in turning their economies around through hard work, perseverance and commitment to national goals. Dr Thompson described as unfortunate that in our part of the world people always tend to blame the socio-economic difficulties on witches and demons forgetting that wealth could only be created through proper planning and hard work.

He called on the citizens particularly small and large scale entrepreneurs, to always self-examine themselves. Dr Thompson expressed the hope that such self-appraisal exercise would help Ghanaians correct the wrong impression that any misfortune which happened to a citizen was the work of witchcraft or demons. He said that bad planning coupled with lack of proper managerial knowledge and skills, financial mismanagement, as well as outmoded cultural beliefs and practices were the cause of serious economic problems that had often led to the collapse of many states and private industries in the country.

Dr Thompson said the ILO Decent Work Pilot Project (DWPP) being replicated in districts, was to ensure that the small-scale entrepreneurs in rural communities were not left out in the national development agenda.

The ILO National Co-ordinator advised operators in the hospitality industry to adopt cost-effective methods in running their hotels to attract more tourists to enhance the image of the industry and the nation. He also called for education and technical training for the youth saying the great economic strides chalked by nations like China, Japan and Korea were the results of massive technical training to their youths.

Dr Thompson charged the participants to take the course seriously to enable them to make the expected impact when they went back to their respective districts after the course.

About 200 representatives selected from the various Sub-Committees on Productive and Gainful Employment (SPGES) operating in the Awutu/Senya, Agona and the Effutu Administrative areas under the auspices of the ILO are participating in the five-day workshop. Topics being treated include modern business promotion techniques, prudent financial management, records keeping, marketing procedures required for efficient and effective running of micro and small-scale enterprises, participatory development techniques and advocacy for effective development. 2 July 09