Accra, Aug. 13, GNA - Mr Freddie Blay, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, on Friday said Ghana had a good cause to celebrate Emancipation and PANAFEST event as it reminds the people to appreciate freedom.

He said Emancipation demonstrated the importance of freedom and Ghana being one of the places that contributed to the slave trade must see the celebration as an all-important one.

Mr Blay was speaking at a sponsors' dinner dance organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City to thank sponsors of the events.

The dinner dance was also used to lower the curtains on activities marking this year's Emancipation and PANAFEST celebration. Mr Blay, who is also the Member of Parliament for Elembele, said the world must give a kind of value to the celebration of Emancipation as it was among the most serious landmarks in history. Apart from promoting tourism in the country, Emancipation also helps market the country's tourism and other potentials to the world, he said. Tourism, he said should be all-involving as it was likely to make Ghana bigger on the world market.

He urged the sponsors to continue to support the tourism industry, saying, "If tourism flourishes, business will flourish." Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City, thanking the sponsors, reiterated the potentials of Emancipation celebration for the country.

He however, said the event does not get due attention it needed therefore, giving less impact on the economy. "It could have more impact on the economy if more money was pumped into it," he said.

Nii Adumansa-Baddoo, Acting Managing Director of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, who spoke on behalf of the sponsors pledge continuous support for the event and for tourism as a whole.