Accra, Aug. 15, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Friday granted audience to a South Korean delegation in the country to reinforce co-operation between the Asian nation and Ghana particularly in the area of developing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) into efficient business entities.

SMEs constitute about 99.8 per cent of enterprises in Korea. Mr. In Ho Kim, Chairman and Senior Fellow, Market Economy Research Institute, led the delegation. President Kufuor said Ghana was determined to organise its SMEs into efficient machinery to support the rapid growth of the national economy.

He noted that at the time of the nation's independence in the 1950s, its per capita was on the same level with that of Korea but over the decades, the Asian country had leapfrogged to join the developed world.

Ghana is interested to learn the secrets of the Korean success, to build the local enterprises into viable businesses, he said. President Kufuor said even if there were large-scale enterprises, the SMEs would be used as pillars.

Mr In said they were impressed with the progress the country was making under the Growth Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS). He said they were in Ghana to wrap up research work into the building of a foundation for sustainable economic development.

Mr In said he was confident the outcome would contribute to the growth of the national economy.

He expressed their readiness to share their knowledge and expertise with the country to help speed up the pace of progress.