The Japanese Government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts (MoTCCA), is to sponsor 3,000 people nationwide to be trained in traditional arts and handicrafts.

The project dubbed “Japanese Government Counter Value Fund: Training of Ghanaian Youth in Traditional Arts and Handicraft Project” is a culmination of the desire of the Japanese Government to address the issue of unemployment among the youth in the country.

Beneficiaries would be trained in kente weaving, bamboo and rattan designs, painting, sculpture, wood carving, pottery and ceramics, smock making, beads making, leather works, metal fabrication and others.

Speaking at the launch of the programme on Thursday, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, said the project which targets 300 youth from each of the 10 regions, will be managed by the Centers for National Culture in the regions.

She said the successful implementation of the project would go a long way to affirm the pivotal role of the tourism, culture and the creative arts industry in job and wealth creation.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the initiative would provide artifacts and fabrics, among others, for display and patronage at the Accra Visitors Information Centre (AVIC) and the various Regional Centres for National Culture.

She said an eight-member Steering Committee with an oversight responsibility for the project implementation by the National Commission on Culture as prescribed by the Financing Agreement between the Japanese Government and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had also been put in place.

Mr Shigiru Hamano, Deputy Head of Mission at the Japanese Embassy, said the project had been designed to address the needs of those already in the arts trade but needed assistance in terms of packaging and market penetration.

“We would also include the apprenticeship model which would help to sustain the project since trainees are most likely to practice what they have mastered”, he said.

Mrs Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Deputy Minister, MoTCCA, expressed Government’s appreciation to the government of Japan for its support for the ministry’s project.

She said the Ministry had developed a lot of brilliant policies aimed at improving the well-being of Ghanaians, and called for support towards its activities.