Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been urged to do more to create the right environment to attract targeted investments to their areas of jurisdiction.

Mr Eric Opoku, the Ashanti Regional Minister, said they need to fashion out their own development and investment plans, for businesses to buy into.

He was speaking at a day’s sensitization workshop organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) for MMDAs in the region at the Royal Lamerta Hotel in Kumasi.

It forms part of an aggressive effort by the Council to identify and promote investment opportunities across the country.

The workshop brought together key stakeholders in the various assemblies and captains of industry.

Mr Opoku noted that Ashanti is blessed with a wide range of business opportunities, which if properly exploited and tapped, could bring immense benefits to the population.

He said the rich agricultural lands and vast savannah lands, lying on the northern fringes, for example, could be mechanized for large scale farming, he said.

“Added to this, are the rich mineral resources including largely untapped bauxite and iron ore deposits at Nyinahin”.

Mr Opoku said, “we have the responsibility to identify other areas with great potential for development, to change the business prospects of the region”, and encouraged local companies in the region to register with the GIPC, to benefit from the Centre’s promotion activities - incentives and support services.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the situation where investments appear to be over-concentrated in Accra and appealed to the GIPC to do what it takes to lure investors to other regions.