Accra, Nov. 6, GNA- The Ghana Association Software and IT Services Companies (GASSCOM) was on Monday launched to facilitate business and trade in software and services.

It is also to be a strong advocate in soliciting government and other public sector support and encourage the advancement of the industry.

Launching the Association under the theme: "Promoting the Growth of the IT Enabled Service and Business Process Outsourcing (ITES& BPO) Industry in Ghana," Dr Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim, Minister of Communications said Ghana was uniquely positioned to be a major player in IT services in the sub-region.

"Ghana is a favoured BPO destination because Ghana has a large pool of English-speaking labour, competitive labour costs differential to USA and UK and geo-political stability."

It is the vision of GASSCOM to propel Ghana's economy into the 21st century by delivering on the promise of making Ghana the services hub and gateway to Africa.

The Minister noted that the ITES-BPO sector had been identified by government as a focus area for economic development and urged all IT companies in the country to register with the Association to ensure maximum impact and realization of its purpose. Dr. Aggrey-Ntim urged GASSCOM members to develop software that would put Ghana at par with countries such as India and the Philippines, which were Asian giants in IT.

"You can achieve this if information and data on your projects are well documented," he advised, noting that data was one issue that was absent in most businesses.

Dr Aggrey-Ntim said other countries had prospered due to the way they marketed their products and this was what Ghana was lacking. He urged GASSCOM members to sharpen their marketing skills in order to make their software attractive to other countries adding that, "You all need to help government to eradicate poverty from Ghana." A seven-ember interim executive committee for the Association was inducted into office.

Dr Samuel Somuah, a former presidential advisor on IT who chaired the function, urged Ghanaian IT companies to take advantage of the Association saying "as companies come together we believe that they would be able to compete favourably with the multi-national companies'. Madam Mavis Ampah, an official of the World Bank, which is sponsoring the Association, said AT Kearney Global Services Location Index, an international company, had ranked Ghana as the second competitive country apart from South Africa with respect to BPO in 2005 and 2007. She urged the Association to work closely with government to be able to achieve the desired results for the industry.