Mr Boniface Abu-Bakar Saddique, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City, on Wednesday said securing improved access to international markets was one of the government's key strategies.

He said the government was using this strategy to diversify the country's export market and to promote the growth and development of exports.

Mr Saddique was speaking at the Western Regional launching of The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

''The government has also identified trade and investment as the twin engines for achieving rapid economic growth and reducing poverty. AGOA provides an expanded trade and investment opportunities for the export sector.''

He said AGOA allowed duty free and quota free access to United States market for over 6,400 products from Ghana and other eligible African countries thereby putting the multi-billion United States market within the reach of Ghanaian exporters.

Mr Saddique said the focus of AGOA was on the private sector and the government was determined to provide a stable political environment, market friendly economic policies and improved regulatory environment to support the country's private sector to enable it build linkages with their counterparts in the United States.

Mr Saddique said Ghana was currently the 8th largest exporter to the U.S. market under the AGOA.

He said the country exported 50 million U.S. dollar worth of goods in 2002 and has set a target export 60 million dollars this year.

Mr Saddique said the government had recommended five per cent reduction in duty on inputs for textile production such as dyestuff, chemicals and greybaft in order to make local production of textile competitive.

He said the Ministry of Trade and Industries had set up a training centre for garment manufacturers at the Garment training Centre in Accra with support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

Mr Saddique said another training centre had been established at the Volta Garment Training Centre to provide skills for seamstresses and tailors to enable them export to the U.S.

Madam Sophia Horner-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister, said AGOA offered a golden opportunity for the government to create jobs for the country's teeming youth and to also create wealth.

She said one of the challenges facing Ghanaian entrepreneurs who wanted to export to the U.S. under AGOA was the ability to satisfy the demand of the America market in terms of quantity and quality of goods.

Madam Horner-Sam said the Ghanaian entrepreneur would be able to prove equal to the task when given the necessary training.