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Mike Hammah, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, is optimistic about positioning the Central region as the business gateway of Ghana. He has therefore pledged the unflinching support of his ministry to help Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM) re-position the region as a gateway for commerce in the country. The minister observed that the region had all the requirements to achieve this vision, and appealed to all stakeholders particularly indigenes of the region, to contribute their quota towards the realization of this important initiative. Mr. Hammah made the call when a delegation from CEDECOM, led by Dr. Anthony Ntsiful, Executive Director of the organization, paid a courtesy call on him. CEDECOM, established in 1990 as a specialized development wing of the Central regional administration, paid the courtesy call to formally introduce the organization to the ministry and explore possible areas of collaboration for the realization of its development objectives. The Central region is endowed with many natural resources and heritage site which have been contributing to the nation�s tourism. Despite the region�s rich natural and immense human resource, the minister observed that poverty was very endemic in the region. He therefore charged the executives of CEDECOM to come up with more innovative and aggressive strategies to attract the needed investment to accelerate the pace of development in the region. He prevailed on CEDECOM to urgently mobilize all available resources at its disposal to revamp critical socio-economic infrastructure in the area. He also urged them to liaise with the Ghana Investment Promotion Council to develop sectors that enhanced the region�s development like the tourism industry. The minister called on CEDECOM to re-double its efforts to ensure that all the key development fundamentals, especially peace and stability, as well as the land tenure systems were effectively streamlined. He pledged that the second phase of the Land Administration Project, which was recently launched by the ministry, would be extended to the region to help ensure security of tenure. The minister commended the proactive approach adopted by the executives of CEDECOM, and charged them to submit proposals that would enable the ministry assist the Central region to develop forest plantations under the Greening Ghana Project to create employment for the youth. Mr. Hammah also advised the residents of the region to venture into commercial forest plantations as a viable business option. The minister tasked CEDECOM to encourage the formation of youth groups and clubs that would deal with environmental issues in order to assist the ministry to educate the public on hazards associated with uncontrolled degradation of the environment. Dr. Ntsiful expressed gratitude to the minister for the warm reception accorded them and hoped that the meeting would mark the beginning of a new era of collaboration between the two organizations