The German ambassador to Ghana His Excellency Mr. Peter Linder ended a two day working visit to Brong Ahafo Region on Friday to acquaint himself with various German co-operation projects in the region. The visit took him to Techiman, Wenchi and Sunyani.

Speaking to Space Fm in Sunyani, Mr. Linder said his visit to the Region is in pursuance of his agenda to strengthen Ghana-Germany bilateral relations in the areas of agriculture, good governance and economic development.

On his general impression about the Region, Mr. Linder said: ?I?m going home with the impression that Brong Ahafo Region is very peaceful, active and economically very powerful Region particularly in the area of agriculture.?

At Techiman, Mr. Linder paid a courtesy call on the Omanhene; Nana Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV. He said he was fascinated about the level of mobility in the town, which he described as an indication of economic growth. Techiman has one of the biggest market centres in the sub-region.

His Excellency?s visit took him to the rejuvenated Wenchi Tomato Factory which is currently operated by Afrique Link Limited with private-public partnership arrangement. German government provided a lot of financial and technical assistance to resurrect the factory after years of collapse.

On his part, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister Nana Kwadwo Seinti said Mr. Linder?s visit is welcome news to the people in the Region. He mentioned some of the projects German Co-operation is involved in the Region as Wenchi Tomato factory, Grasscutter project and Sunyani-Atronie-Acirensua road construction among others.

Nana Seinti said he had a very fruitful discussion with Mr. Linder which centered on poverty reduction, Regional security and local politics.

The clergy were not left out of his trip as His Excellency took time to meet the Catholic Bishop in Sunyani, Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi. The Bishop was full of praise to the German government for the numerous development projects German co-operation is undertaking in the Region especially in the area of agriculture. The German ambassador later visited the Don Bosco Vocational Training Institute, where more than 300 students welcomed him. The school choir and the brass band team played the German Anthem to the admiration of all.

His Excellency was marveled at infrastructural development of the very institution which started little over a decade ago under a mango tree. The school has grown to become well equipped vocational centre due to a lot of support also from German Government, Catholic Church and private sponsors. The German Government supported the initiation of a credit programme for school leavers, the Fostered Youth Association.

The German Cooperation has been working extensively in the Region for the past nine years. Formerly the focus was on agriculture, health and local government support.

Today, the activities of the cooperation entail three main areas:

1. Agriculture (Market Oriented Agriculture Programme)

2. Employment Oriented Private Sector Development (Rural Trade and Industry Promotion)

3. Good Governance (Local Governance and Poverty Reduction Support Programme)

Additionally, the Financial Cooperation supports several road constructions in the region.

German cooperation has achieved significant successes in the Region which include:

1. Impact on agricultural productivity, value addition and market competitiveness through technology innovations in production, storage, processing and marketing. (e.g. tomato, grasscutter, chille pepper, mango, ginger etc. through MOAP.

2. Improved Private Sector Performance; e.g. Wenchi tomato factory, private processors (chillie pepper, ?); Farmers Groups and Associations (Brong Ahafo Regional Grasscutter Association)

3. Increased Market and Business Orientation through capacity building of implementing organization in business advise (RuTIPP)

4. Enhanced local economic development in the region; supporting interaction of all stakeholders in private and public sectors (RuTIPP)

5. Improved good governance in the areas of management of infrastructure, decentralized financing systems, etc. (LGPRSP)

German Cooperation in Brong Ahafo Region is represented by the Financial Cooperation with KfW; the Technical Cooperation with GTZ; and the Human Resource Cooperation with DED.