Accra, April 28, GNA - The British Council on Tuesday launched a programme that seeks to build progressive partnership between industry, scientific research institutions and academia for Ghana's industrial take-off.

The programme which is christened Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnership (AKTP), in collaboration with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), adopted four local industries which acquired skills to solve real business problems and find lasting solutions to their production setbacks within three years.

Launching the programme which is on the theme: 93Books and Cogs: Knowledge and Industrial Synthesis for Transformational Growth," Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Joseph Annan, said parties in this partnership must build trust and improve their communication skills to be able to operate from a common platform. "We believe participating research institutions and the academia will continue with this attitude," he said. Dr Annan said globalisation and liberalisation were the two important phenomena currently driving the world, adding that countries with the technological capacities and capabilities were at the forefront of economic development.

"This is largely achieved through building partnership among academia, research institutions and the private sector," he said. Dr Annan noted that the partnership engendered in most cases sharing of scientific knowledge, technology and upgrading of skills. "We need to share experience across countries, institutions and firms to grow world trade in a healthy and competitive environment to ensure our prosperity," he said.

He noted that the Ministry of Trade and Industry had formulated a new industrial policy, which had received cabinet approval. Dr Annan said the policy would provide transparent guidelines for the implementation of government industrial development agenda, which would aim at the competitiveness and growth of the manufacturing sector.

The Minister indicated that a lot of concern had been expressed about the gap between scientific achievement and the commercialisation of such an achievement and expressed the hope that these matters were issues which the new policy would address.

He said the ministry under the policy would support the private sector to contribute to wealth creation and attain a national goal of Ghana becoming a major agro-industrial economy and a strong middle income country.

"These activities are underpinned by the development of a modern robust economy driven by science and technology especially in value addition and manufacturing," he said. Nana Owusu Afari, President of the AGI, in a speech read on his behalf, said the project would not transform technology overnight but would make a gradual improvement in the technological level over time. He acknowledged the collaboration and enthusiasm the research institutions had shown in the programme, saying if the trend continued industry and academia could make significant impact on the industrial scene.

Nana Afari noted that science and technology were undergoing changes and changing the world faster, saying a lot of success had been recorded out of partnership initiatives between industry and academia all over the world.

The beneficiary companies and research institutions are, Nkulenu Industries and Food Research Institute; Ekem Art Pottery and Institute of Industrial Research; Biodiesel 1 Ghana Limited and Department of Crop Science University of Ghana and Apaak Traditional Medicines and Noguchi Memorial Institute of medical Research. Other countries where the project is being piloted are Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya South Africa and Rwanda.