Mr Oppong Kyekyeku, Ashanti Regional Officer of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has called on small-scale manufacturers to change people's negative perception towards made-in-Ghana goods through advertisements.

He said advertisements on made-in-Ghana goods would not only change people's perceptions but also expose their goods to a larger section of the population.

Mr Oppong Kyekyeku made the call at the inauguration of the Asafo market branch of the Footwear Manufacturers Association in Kumasi at the weekend.

He, however, stressed the importance of quality and asked the footwear manufacturers to ensure that they produced quality goods.

Mr Oppong Kyekyeku told them that as small-scale manufacturers, they could not make any meaningful impact on the international market if they did not come together to be able to produce on a large scale for export.

He noted that if small-scale entrepreneurs were unable to increase their exports, then the country could not achieve the Golden Age of Business declared by the President.

Mr Evans Anyane, Projects Analyst of the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI), noted that one of the militating factors against the patronage of made-in-Ghana goods was their prices, pointing out that goods manufactured in Ghana cost more than imported ones.

He also identified unattractive packaging as another factor and therefore asked the small-scale manufacturers to improve upon it to attract customers.

Mr Kwame Buor, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Association of Small-Scale Industries (ASSI), asked the NBSSI to redeem its promise to liaise with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to find a suitable location for all shoemakers in the metropolis who might soon be ejected from their present locations.

Mr Peter Kusi Ababio, Asafo Market zonal chairman of the association, appealed to the government to let the much-trumpeted assistance to small-scale entrepreneurs trickle down to them.

Mr Kusi-Ababio re-echoed the call to Ghanaians to patronise made-in-Ghana goods since they compared favourably with imported ones and said it was the patronage of Ghana made goods that would take the country out of its HIPC situation.

Earlier, members of the association had visited the Ghana Shoe Factory to familiarise themselves with the modern machines now in the industry and undertook a clean-up exercise at the Asafo Market and Dunkirk.