The Ministry of Trade and Industry has given the strongest indication that it will aggressively pursue the implementation of its Strategic Anchor Industries Initiatives aimed at industrial transformation of the country in 2020.

The sector Minister, Alan Kyerematen made this known when he led a delegation of some of the leading global Textile and Garment companies who visited Ghana last week to a tour of selected industries.

The purpose of the visit was to explore sourcing opportunities and to consider establishing a vertically integrated textile and garment industry in Ghana on a long-term basis, he stated.

The delegation included Senior Representatives of three of the largest Apparel Brands: Vanity Fair, PVH and H&M. These companies have combined annual revenue of over $30 billion in 2018.

It will be recalled that during the presentation of the 2020 Budget and Economic Policy Statement of the Akufo-Addo Government to Parliament, the Minister of Finance noted that the Strategic Anchor Industries Initiative is one of the key components of the Ten-Point Industrial Transformation Plan of the Ministry of Trade and Industry designed to diversify and transform the economy by creating new pillars of growth and expansion in the industrial sector.

Throwing more light on the initiatives, Mr. Kyerematen revealed that the key strategic industries under the initiative are: Petrochemical, Integrated Aluminum and Bauxite, Iron and Steel, Vehicle Assembly and Automotive Industry, Garments and Textiles, Pharmaceuticals, Vegetable Oils and Fats (in particularly Oil Palm), Industrial Starch from Cassava, Industrial Chemicals based on Industrial Salt, Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing.

He emphasized that the Ministry of Trade and Industry launched the Ghana Automotive Development Policy in August 2019 which has so far attracted investments and commercial interests from global OEMs (Original Equipment manufacturers) including Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Sinotruck and Suzuki.

The Policy will also support existing local auto assemblers such as the Kantanka Group.

The Minister further disclosed that an Automobile Industry Development Unit (Auto Unit) has been established at the Ministry of Trade and Industry to act as a One-Stop-Shop to coordinate the implementation of the programme and facilitate engagements with Assemblers, Component Manufacturers and Suppliers, Auto Dealerships and Distributors, Vehicle Financing Institutions and the general public.

Mr Kyerematen assured the private sector community that, in the year 2020 activities will be intensified on the implementation of all key ongoing Strategic Anchor Industrial programmes being implemented by the Ministry.

A programme of action will also be launched to attract Strategic Investors into these sectors to ensure sustainability and global competitiveness of Ghana’s industry.

In addition to the above, the Ministry in collaboration with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation and the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Corporation will aggressively pursue programmes to crowd in investments to develop the Aluminium, Bauxite, Iron and Steel downstream sectors to act as the backbone of the country’s infrastructure development he indicated.