Accra, Jan. 18, GNA - The Ministry of Trade and Industry on Monday inaugurated a nine-member ministerial board with a call on members to explore new avenues of energising the private sector to boost local production.

Ms. Hanna Tetteh, the sector Minister, who made the call said the board must assist to build the private sector to position itself to be more competitive in the local and international business arena. The board being chaired by the Minister, would be responsible for developing worthwhile trade decisions for industrial growth. She said Ghana's response to Economic Partnership Agreement, the ECOWAS and European Union which would open her market to the world was a challenge that the board must help to deal with. Ms. Tetteh said these challenges bothering mainly on branding and the quality of products and the ability of local products to compete with brands from developed countries must be addressed adequately. She said fair trade protection in the international market must be its ultimate concern.

Ms. Tetteh noted that the ministry had just completed work on the Phase Two of the Private Sector Development Strategy and called on the board to be abreast of the content of the document. She said the document would be a source of reference during peer review sessions to improve local production for export. Mr. Aboagye Antwi Adjei, a member of the board called on the ministry to provide adequate resources to facilitate work. Other members of the board are; Mr. John Gyetuah, Mr. William Kofi Larbi, and Mr. Wilson Atta Krofa. The rest are Mr. George Aboagye, Ms. Veronica Sadah, Mr. Anthony Sikpa and Mr. Lincoln Donkor. 18 Jan. 10