Tema, Aug. 10, GNA - Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister for Fisheries, has assured fishing companies in the country that the ministry was determined to provide them with basic raw materials. This, she said, would enable them to continue to stay in business.

Mrs Asmah gave the assurance when she paid working visits to three fish processing factories in Tema on Thursday. The companies were Continental Fish Processing Company Limited, Ghana Agro-Food Company Limited (GAFCO), and the Pioneer Food Cannery Limited in Tema.

The visits were to enable the minister to acquaint herself with the problems facing companies in the fishing industry and to see how best to help solve them.

She assured the companies that the ministry would collaborate with them to enable them to live up to expectation.

Mrs Asmah said Ghana, being the fourth biggest tuna-producing country in the world, everything possible would be done to improve the operations of fish processing companies to enable the country to maintain this enviable position.

She appealed to the companies to ensure that Ghanaians became the first beneficiaries of their produce before the surplus was exported. The three companies pledged that the workers would give off their best to help improve the fishing industry.