Sekondi, July 19, GNA- Mr. Joseph B. Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, said on Monday that the homecoming summit planned for the region in August 2004 would be held annually.

He said the weeklong celebration dubbed "Nkabom Afahye" is expected to unify the people in the entire region and facilitate the solving of problems confronting them.

Mr. Aidoo was speaking at a press conference organised by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) at Sekondi on Monday.

He said the festival, which is the initiative of the Regional House of Chiefs, the RCC and the private sector would be non-partisan and succeeding governments would be expected to celebrate it.

The Regional Minister said a major focus of the summit would be on basic education, which is the foundation of all sectors of the educational ladder.

"Though basic education has been identified as a pressing challenge facing the region, the focus of the summit would be finding appropriate methods aimed at solving the poor educational standards" he said.

Mr. Aidoo said business opportunities, networking and reducing poverty among the people are some of the gains that the summit hopes to achieve. "Place the Western Region on the international business map and stimulate the pride of being a westerner among the people," he added.

Nana Kobina Nketsiah IV Omanhene of Essikadu said the summit would attract investment opportunities to the region and a Western Regional Educational Fund would be launched as part of the celebrations.

He said a soccer tournament dubbed "The Fantastic Four" would be played to increase the enthusiasm of people in the celebrations. 19 July 04