Accra, Sept. 21, GNA - Vice President Aliu Mahama on Wednesday expressed optimism about the economic prospects of the President's Special Initiative on Garments and called on investors to take advantage of the huge potentials.

Interacting with the visiting Sri Lankan Minister of Trade, Commerce and Consumers Affairs, Mr Jeyaraj Fernandopulle at the Castle, Osu, Alhaji Mahama said: "The garment industry is huge with huge market."

He praised Sri Lanka for setting up a garment factory in Tema and expressed the hope that Mr Fernandopulle would attract more investors to Ghana by being a good ambassador of a fellow developing country. The Vice President solicited the assistance of the Asian country in promoting tourism and agro-processing in Ghana in the spirit of South-South cooperation.

Mr Fernandopulle said the two million-dollar-factory in Ghana, was made possible due to the friendly industrial climate, the commitment of Ghanaians to hard work and the peaceful and stable nature of the country.

He said there were more than 740 garment factories in Sri Lanka employing more than 300,000 people and promised to lure more of such investments to Ghana.

Mr Allan Kyeremanteng, Minister of Trade and Industry, said the Government had plans to develop Ghana into a competition hob of garments.

He said the Sri Lankan factory had received orders of its products from October 2005 to March 2006, to the huge US garment market under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which he said gave a comparative economic advantage to Ghana. 21 Sept.05