Third Ghana Policy Fair Opens

The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) would soon come out with a long-term national development plan to meet future development goals of the country, Mr Paul Victor Obeng, Chairman of the Commission announced on Monday. Addressing the opening session of the Third Ghana Policy Fair in Accra, he said it was important for Ghana to work with a policy that would enhance the economy and ensure equity in the distribution of the benefits. Mr Obeng said there was the need to map a long-term development goal using the national medium term policy framework as a guide. The five-day fair under the auspices of the Ministry of Information attracted Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and the private sector, and on the theme: �Building Together in Better Ghana.� The participating institutions have mounted exhibitions to showcase their services and closely interact with the public to explain such services to them. Mr Obeng explained that the medium term development framework was drawn in a flexible manner from which all the policies of government emanated and which was easily adaptable to global changes. He said Ghana could only be deemed to be competitive if she got the advantage in the market place to enhance growth. Mr Obeng said a cornerstone of the medium term framework was to modernise agriculture from the current dependence on rain-fed and the vulnerabilities in the sector and enhancing farmers� income and contribution to the economy. Other areas of focus include integrated industrial development that would ensure linkages among the various industries to promote horizontal and vertical linkages for value added production and increased job creation. There is also the focus on infrastructural development across the energy, transport, roads and other sectors to ensure a holistic development of the country. Mr Fritz Baffour, Minister of Information, said the fair presented the government a rare opportunity to showcase policies and programmes that it had implemented on behalf of the people. It is also an element of transparent and accountable governance since information was critical and enhanced the ability of citizens to make inputs into the policy making process. He explained that there would be various dialogue sessions which are innovative way of effectively engaging stakeholders in debates and discussions on various government policies and programmes to enhance the democratic governance of the country. Mr Baffour said the dialogue would ensure that stakeholders assess how government ensured equitable distribution of resources.