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THE MINISTER of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah will Chair the Promotion of Made-In-Ghana Committee, upon the instructions of the President, due to the importance of the initiative to Government. He disclosed this at a recent meeting of the Committee. According to Dr Spio-Garbrah, Promotion of Made-In-Ghana goods and services is very critical to the challenge of strengthening the Cedi, increasing exports, and narrowing the trade and budget deficits. In view of this, the exercise is dear to the agenda of the Government and the President and the Minister pledged to work for the success of the initiative. He lauded the Committee and reiterated the support of government to its work. The minister, however, called for the expansion of the Committee to include representatives of the Advertisers Association of Ghana, the Institute of Public Relations, the Ghana Journalists Association, the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana, and Consumer Protection Association of Ghana, since their inclusion will help ease the Committee�s work in the promoting campaign for the Ghana made products. He tasked the Secretariat of the Committee to extend invitations to these associations to nominate their representatives. He indicated that, promotion of Made-In-Ghana goods is not a new initiative in Ghana, indicating that several governments in the past had attempted some variants of this, and their experiences and the lessons learned could assist the current Committee. He cited the �Operation Feed Yourself� programme of the Acheampong era and the late Dan Lartey�s advocacy to Ghanaians, �eat what we grow and grow what we eat� as examples of efforts to focus national attention on made-in-Ghana produce and products. He added that it is now high time all Ghanaians put in more effort to help promote our locally produced goods in order to create more jobs, grow local industry and increase Ghana�s export earnings. The Minister however admonished manufacturers in Ghana to improve upon their production capacities and the quality of their products so as to become more competitive on the international market. Ricketts-Hagan, a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, stated that the focus of the promotion would not be solely on clothing and textiles but on everything made in Ghana. He said government was prepared to support Ghanaian industries to help promote locally manufactured products, increase jobs and improve the living standards of the people. Murtala Mohammed, another Deputy Minister, underscored the fact that the President is serious about increasing the patronage by Ghanaians of Ghana made products and services and that the campaign would not be a mere political gimmick but a sustainable, diversified and professional campaign. According to the Deputy Minister, Ghana made products are in high demand on the world market and it is imperative that Ghanaian industry increase their production in order to meet growing world demand. The Made-in-Ghana Committee is made of representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Trade Fair Company, Brand Ghana, Unilever, Gratis Foundation, Association of Ghana Industries, Nestle Ghana Limited, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Ghana Standards Authority.