Accra, June 1, GNA - Government on Tuesday said subsidy in whatever form would not be discarded if it was necessary to protect some strategic local industries against unfair external competition. Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry who said this noted that some Ghanaian industries over the years have proven to have the potential to develop even in the face of present international pressures.

He said government was going to meet with players in the industrial sector to get a core group that together with the Ministry of Trade would brainstorm to find concrete measures to help propel the sector to greater pedestals.

The Deputy Minister said this when he toured the production sites of Crown Star Company of the Melcom Group of Companies that manufacture rubber products and assemble electronic and electrical appliances at the north industrial area, Accra.

The Minister said the tour was part of the step to ascertain the productions capabilities of some of the factories and to find out what could is needed to be done to assist industries improve and meet the required standards as far as quality was concerned. Mr Osei-Ameyaw said, "as a nation, we should look at where our strength lay in order to take the measurers that would be conducive within the ECOWAS environment that we live in.

"If the World Trade Organisation or developed nations says we shouldn't give subsidy to our local producers, we should devise alternative forms of subsidy not necessary funds that would help us move forward as a nation," he said.

Mr Ramesh Sadhwani, Managing Director of Melcom Group of Companies said Crown Star, currently with a workforce of about 400, would embark on an expansion programme before the end of the year. He said with a production capacity of about 2,000 tonnes of rubber products a month, the company hope to double that in the near future with the expansion.

Currently, the Melcom companies export a third of their products to a number of countries in Africa, including, Nigeria, Liberia, Angola, Congo and even the United States of America. June 1, 05