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Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has asked chief directors at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to continue to be beacons of excellence to propel government’s development agenda.

At the closing ceremony of the maiden Chief Directors Policy Dalogue in Accra on Friday, Madam Botchwey said Ghana’s economy needed structural transformation and revolutionary strategies to engender growth.
She, therefore, expressed optimism that the platform had exposed them to the requisite tools and knowledge to build “Ghana beyond Aid”.

The five-day Dialogue was jointly organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, which was to fashion out effective strategies and policies as well as build synergies to support the promotion of rapid inclusive economic growth.

Madam Botchwey urged the chief directors to buy into the President’s vision of industrial transformation, which is anchored on the One-District-One-Factory, and Planting for Food and Jobs, among other initiatives to engender economic growth, create wealth and alleviate poverty.

She said the President’s transformation agenda called for more vibrant public-private partnerships, re-organisation and overhaul of the agriculture and trade sectors and believed that the chief directors would play crucial roles in accomplishing it.

Madam Botchwey commended the chief directors for availing themselves for the dialogue, saying; “I strongly believe that the success of the government depends on the ability of our policy makers to advice, innovate and put up a united front at all times”.

Dr Joseph Atta-Mensah, the Principal Policy Adviser in charge of Capacity Development at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, read the Communiqué on behalf of the chief directors.

The Communiqué urged government to invest more resources into science, mathematics, engineering and technology with the view of bolstering innovation and research for economic growth.

It called for stronger collaboration between the Government and the private sector to promote diversification of the economy and increase efforts at value addition through industrialisation.

It said the modernisation of the country’s economy should be anchored on agricultural mechanisation, preservation of property rights and land tenure system, especially in the rural areas to alleviate poverty.

It underscored the need to strengthen the country’s macro economy to anchor the transformation processes.

On regional integration and trade, it said Ghana and other African countries should eliminate all trade barriers on goods and services, and infuse the Regional Trade Policy into its trading and industrial strategies.

It said African countries, including Ghana, needed to speed up visa acquisition for travel within Africa and strengthen regional monetary system to improve intra-African trade.

There should be sound transport and interconnectivity processes on the African Continent to enhance trade and globalisation, it said.

On management of natural resources, the Communiqué stressed the need for the nation to enhance the capacity of the geological agencies and experts to better manage the natural resources.

It said the revenue from the natural resources should be used to solve the unemployment situation in the country and support the small-and-medium-scale enterprises for sustainable development.