Kumasi, Sept. 25, GNA- Mr Akenten Appiah-Menka, an industrialist, has called for political commitment towards the declaration of the Golden Age of Business.

He noted that the declaration will only remain food for thought and "not food for the stomach" if it was not backed by political commitment. Speaking at the fifth regional annual general meeting of the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo branch of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Kumasi on Thursday, Mr Appiah-Menka said there was the need to put in place institutional structures to make the declaration succeed. One of the fundamental things needed from the government is for it to believe in it, practice it and not merely "sing it," he said. Mr Appiah-Menka said the government's focus should be on support for local industries to establish and grow instead of the uncontrolled trade liberalisation.

He noted that the road to success in the private sector is very rough and called on the banks to facilitate the sector.

Mr Appiah-Menka expressed regret that presently in Ghana, the banks are gradually killing the industries with high interest rates and downright refusal to assist them.

One other areas of concern, he said, was market for locally manufactured goods noting that the Ghana market was too small for the goods and called for efforts to exploit the ECOWAS market.

He called for a change of perception towards made-in-Ghana goods and charged politicians to lead the crusade to patronise locally manufactured goods instead of condemning them as inferior.

Mr David Darko-Mensah, Regional Chairman of the AGI, noted that the collateral being demanded by the banks for loans were virtually unavailable especially for the micro, cottage and small industries, adding, "even where the collateral can be secured, administrative bottlenecks discourage young entrepreneurs from pursuing the loans."

He mentioned high utility tariffs, which lead to high cost of production and the cumulative impact of taxes and levies on production as factors that make locally manufactured goods very expensive on the international market.