PRIVATE SECTOR NEEDS SUPPORT FOR GROWTH (PAGE 29)

The Chief Director of the Western Regional Coordinating Council, Mr David Yaro, has stressed the need to give the private sector the needed support to perform its role of reducing poverty.
He said that was necessary for the attainment of the government’s blue print for the country’s development, which was spelt out in its manifesto.
He said the blue print was based on four pillars, which were transparent and accountable governance, investing in people, expanded infrastructure for growth as well as strong economy for real jobs.
He noted that the ultimate objective of the government was the improvement of the living conditions of its people by providing them with the basic needs such as food and shelter.
Mr Yaro was speaking at the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI)- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Agenda 2008 Regional Validation Workshop in the Western Region, Takoradi.
The fact-based agenda will identify priorities and present a plan of action for a better business environment, unleashing the full potential of small companies in all the regions in the country.
Wherever they existed, Mr Yaro noted that small-and medium-scale enterprises helped to create jobs and contributed to the growth of the economy, adding, “It is therefore imperative that if the economy should grow at an accelerated rate, SMEs would have to play a big role in that”.
He said most of the poor could be found in the rural areas, and that there was the need to promote the development of small-and-medium enterprises, which were operated mostly by rural small-scale artisans and peasant farmers.
“Much as the SMEs are important and are appreciated, we know that all is not well with most of these small companies. Some of them are struggling to survive, whilst those that are managing quite well, face a lot of competition that threaten their ability to continue to progress”, he noted.
Mr Yaro also noted that whilst some of the difficulties that small companies faced had to do with the unfavourably business environment, others had to do with the style of management and the management practices that some of these companies adopted.
“Some do not handle issues in a professional manner, either because they did not know the right thing to do or they simply wanted to cut corners in order to have undue advantage”, he added.
He said these and other factors accounted for SMEs not being able to make the breakthrough that was needed to make them contribute more effectively to national economy.
Mr Yaro said whatever they did or failed to do, could go a long way to affect the economic fortunes of the country and, therefore, appealed to the participants to take the deliberations seriously and make constructive contributions.
The Executive Director of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr Cletus Kosiba said about 75 per cent of its membership were SMEs, and that the challenge had been the growth and development of these enterprises to become big and multinational.
He said through the AGI-SME Agenda 2008, a well-developed strategy and policies would be presented to all stakeholders, including the government, financial institutions and agencies, “so that together we can chart a new course so that within the next decade, we can see a change in our industrial landscape”.
Mr Kosiba stressed that SMEs were the backbone of every country’s economy, since they created jobs and contributed to wealth creation.
“We really need to do something serious about our SMEs. We have started a process which is an opportunity for us to critically look at the challenges, so that the strategy and policies we develop could be sold to banks and shareholders to finance the activities of the SMEs for them to grow, and together we can grow the economy”, he emphasised.