Accra, June 18, GNA - STX Engineering and Construction, a South Korean firm, registered in Ghana as a limited liability company, has expressed commitment to establish a steel and cement plant in the country to facilitate its Ghana Housing Project.

The Ghana Housing Project is in two parts. The first component is the construction of 30,000 housing units for Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed Forces under "Securities Services Housing" scheme. A statement issued by Mr Bernard Kwabena Asamoah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), STX Construction in Accra said 170,000 housing units would be constructed for the private sector across the country. STX is pre-financing the Securities Services Housing with a loan of $1.5 million cedis it has advanced to the Government of Ghana under a Suppliers Credit Facility.

Mr Bernard said the facility which would span 20 years would attract a two per cent interest rate and a five-year moratorium. "STX is committed to a 30 per cent minimum local content in the execution of the project. It is intended that in the actual project implementation phase, the local content will be significantly higher than the agreed 70 per cent.

"Further, the Korean Government is determined to support the Ghana Housing Project with the Global Infra Fund, which a Korean Government Sovereign Fund set up to finance foreign infrastructure projects with Korean participation.

The CEO said: "Moreover, a $ 2 Million Official Development Assistance grant is being provided by the Korean Government to support the establishment and inauguration of a Ghanaian Vocation Centre. "The $ 2 Million is intended for the procurement of equipment to train high technical manpower in Ghana.

"STX is committed to the execution of the Ghana Housing Project and the achievement of the Government's Better Housing Agenda." He said the co-operation of all stakeholders is needed to make it possible for STX to use its expertise and experience to make the dream of the Ghana Housing Project a reality, whilst building bridges of partnership with Ghana's construction industry.

"STX is a leading global company with experience in executing projects in a significant number of countries. Having achieved significant growth in its 10 years of existence STX is now soaring towards a new decade. "With a definite goal, a clear strategy and superb human resources, STX intends to solidify its position as one of the world's leading enterprises. "STX feels privileged to be part of Ghana's success story and is willing to leave a lasting footprint on Ghana's economic landscape. It is our policy to adopt a project execution strategy that shares the benefits of the Ghana Housing Project with the people of Ghana through a committed local content programme," Mr Asamoah said.

He said STX intends to deliver modern, affordable and safe homes to reduce the housing deficit; development new communities and infrastructure and build the capacity of the local construction industry through the transfer of cutting edge technology.

Mr Asamoah local design and innovations for the project would be executed through partnership with the College of Architecture and Planning of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. STX has many international subsidiaries including: STX Offshore and Shipbuilding, STX Engine, STX Heavy Industries, STX PanOcean, STX Energy and STX Construction.

The STX Offshore and Shipbuilding is the world's fourth largest shipbuilder whilst STX Construction remains the Korea's number 12 conglomerate subsidiaries, establishing a name as Koreans representative global leader for comprehensive construction, civil works, housing and plant manufacturing." 18 June 10