Tamale, Oct. 17, GNA - Smock weavers in the North

have been urged to improve on the quality of their products

and promote its use under the "National Friday Wear

Programme". Mr Kwadwo Asiedu Afram, Deputy Minister of Trade,

Industry, Private Sector Development and President's

Special Initiatives, made the call when he launched the

"National Friday Wear Programme for the Northern Region

in Tamale on Tuesday. He said: "As a programme that mirrors culture, we must

acknowledge the National Friday Wear Programme as an

avenue through which we can safeguard our cultural

heritage and traditional values bequeathed to use by our

forefathers". "These cultural heritage and traditional values were

expressed in local fabrics and garments and it is our duty to

uphold and jealously guard this expression of heritage and

values through the National Friday Wear Programme", he

added. Mr Asiedu Afram said it was for this reason that his

Ministry had established shops in the regions and

designated them as "National Friday Wear" shops to bring

the programme closer to the people. He noted that the programme, apart from creating the

unique identity for the people in various local areas,

Ghanaians must not forget that its overall patronage with its

national dimension could foster unity and cooperation in the

country. "If those in the North patronise the Friday Wear

products of the South and vice-versa, we create a bond of

unity and respect for each other's cultural identity"

Mr Asiedu Afram urged stakeholders in the textile

industry to take advantage of the unique opportunity to help

the government to achieve its policy goals, urging the

people to discard the notion that anything local was of

inferior quality. He urged educational and training institutions to

encourage the youth to patronise the National Friday Wear

garments to uphold the Ghanaian identity and national

pride. On the influx of foreign goods and smuggling of textile,

the Deputy Minister said the government had set up a

cabinet sub-committee comprising the Ministries of Trade,

Finance and Economic Planning and the Interior to check

the activities, especially textile smuggling into the country,

which he said had had a debilitating effect on trade and the

economy. In a speech read on his behalf, the Northern Regional

Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris said the failure to develop

the textile and garment industry was mainly due to the

negative attitude of many Ghanaians towards

made-in-Ghana goods. "Almost five decades after independence the average

Ghanaian still believes and accepts that everything foreign is

ideal and the best", he said, adding: "This attitude does not

only cripple our economy but also impacts negatively on our

national identity". He said the launch of the programme in the Region

should serve as a challenge and encouragement to the

people to shift their priorities and attitudes towards

made-in-Ghana goods.