Winneba (Centra Region), 23 Oct.,

The Central Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Mr Kofi Mintah, said at Winneba yesterday that the trade liberalization programme was meant to promote healthy competition among local and foreign industrialists, and not to kill the initiative of ghanaian manufacturers. He therefore advised indigenous manufacturers to accept the challenge by producing quality goods which can compete favourably with imported ones. Mr Mintah, himself an industrialist, was speaking at a forum organized by the planners of the ongoing district trade and investment fair at the University College of Education at Winneba for bankers and other participants. He discribed claims by some ghanaian industrialists that the system was introduced to make locally-manufactured goods look inferior so that imported goods will maintain monopoly over "Made In Ghana Goods" as false. Mr Mintah was optimistic that if local manufacturers improve the quality and packaging of their products and sell them at affordable prices the public will patronize them. He said the high prices local manufacturers sell their goods is one of the major factors which deprive them of "heavy patronage." Mr Mintah said even some of the imported goods are below standard. Many participants at the forum stressed the need for government to impose some degree of restriction on the importation of agricultural and other items Ghanaian industrialists are capable of producing to enable them to obtain market for their products. They said, efforts must be made to protect the interests of talented ghanaian industrialists to encourage them to make more positive contributions towards the country's industrialization programmes.