Government has challenged claims by the opposition NPP that its poor management of the economy is killing the manufacturing industry.

At a recent meeting with business leaders in Tarkwa, the NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo Addo said government has done very little to revamp the manufacturing industry to create jobs .

He said the contribution of industry to the economy has seen a decline since former President Kufour left office.

But Trade Minister Hannah Tetteh says Nana Addo’s claim is entirely false stating that a lot of manufacturing companies have sprung up all over the country in the last few years.

“Over the last couple of years we have had new manufacturing establishments locating in Ghana but what they have been doing is focusing on commodities that are grown in Ghana and so are looking to doing value addition and processing here” The Trade Minister said.

Madam Tetteh further challenged critics who claim the industries have collapsed to provide evidence to support their claims.

“When you say industries in Ghana have collapsed, that has been the mantra for the last ten years.

“The evidence is purely anecdotal because you are never able to tell us how many businesses have folded up in the last year in terms of specifics beyond repeating perhaps what other people have said and that is then taken as gospel and then we are told industries have collapsed”.