The Association of Small-Scale Industries (ASSI) has challenged Ghana’s two major political parties to outline their Election 2020 manifesto plans towards boosting Medium and Small Scale Enterprises in the country.

According to the Association, electoral manifestoes played a crucial role in visions of multi-party democracy, and they were unhappy Election 2020 manifestoes of both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were silent on plans to enhance the industry.

Alhaji Saeed Bawah Moomen, the National President of the Association threw the challenge in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the side-lines of the National Delegates Congress of the ASSI, held at Techiman in the Bono East Region.

The two-day congress which brought together more than 200 leaders of the ASSI, and trade associations was held on the theme “Small Scale Industries in COVID-19 Era: The Survival and Way Forward” and elected new national officers to lead the Association for the next four years.

Alhaji Moomen emphasised as an engine of economic growth, the private sector could not be neglected, if the country could make significant progress in its development processes, hence the need for the two political parties to highlight plans captured in their manifestoes for improving the sector in the electioneering.

This, the National President said, would enable the more than two million members of the Association, spread across the length and breadth of the country to make informed decisions when they go to polls on December 7 this year.

That notwithstanding, Alhaji Moomen commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government for the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) stimulus package for businesses, saying the package had helped a lot in sustaining and expanding businesses of many of the members of the Association.

Already, he said more than 400 members of the Association had received their share of the stimulus package, and called on the National Board for Small Scale Enterprises (NBSSI) to facilitate payment processes for those who had still not benefited.

Alhaji Moomen indicated the medium and small-scale industry contributed a lot to national economic growth because the sector created direct and indirect jobs to thousands of people, hence policy makers and implementers must engage the ASSI in decision making processes at all levels.