Accra, Sept. 8, GNA - Government is holding talks with relevant stakeholders in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry to facilitate the establishment of an ICT Park, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of Communication and Technology, said on Wednesday. The Park, which would be 50 kilometres in radius would cost 14 million dollars and would put ICT providers under one tent to offer services.

Mr Kan-Dapaah said this when Mr John E. Davis, Vice President of Intel, a US-based technology company, called on him in Accra. He said when the Park was established it would be a boost to the Government's ICT drive since Ghana would be the first in the West Africa Sub-Region to have created such a Park.

Mr Kan-Dapaah observed that the ICT industry had made tremendous progress in the last few years following the participation of the private sector.

He said the Government believed that ICT would play a major role in the growth of the economy particularly in the area of job creation. Mr Davis said Intel was collaborating with the Government and other stakeholders to ensure that the myths of ICT became a thing of the past. He said they were embarking on an initiative that would allow government employees and corporate bodies to acquire personal computers through financial institutions by way of hire purchase.

Mr Davis said it was expected that the project would cover areas such as computerisation of the various universities, teacher-training programmes and regulatory assistance.