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The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has challenged Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to embrace online opportunities to make Ghanaian products more competitive on the international market. Speaking at the launch of the web-based product gallery on Wednesday in Accra, Mr Iddrisu said, MSMEs were yet to take full advantage of the Internet to stand up to international competition. The National Web-Based Gallery is a platform designed to enhance the MSMEs competitiveness by providing reliable products and company information of participating Ghanaian firms. Through the establishment of the website, the government hopes to create job opportunities and strengthen Ghana�s international trade by putting businesses in a position to be part of the global supply network. The site has a total of 300 products on offer from 71 different companies. �The unfortunate situation is that we have not taken full advantage of this massive opportunity as most of our MSMEs lack the capability to stand up to international competition,� Mr Iddrisu said. He expressed the hope that the newly created platform would be used as a powerful marketing tool for MSMEs to advertise information about their products, prices and contact details to the world market. Mr Iddrisu stressed that �today with the click of a mouse products made in Ghana are available to the rest of the world.� To compete effectively in the international market, he underscored the need for MSMEs to improve on their products to attract the taste of potential international consumers. The President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Mr Seth Adjei-Baah, chaired the programme. In his closing remarks, he said it was a �matter of urgency� for Ghanaian businesses to integrate into the global economy as the Internet was in the process of replacing traditional forms of advertising. Mr Adjei-Baah said the platform would have benefits for trade and the wider economy by increasing product exposure and consumer confidence. A representative from the World Bank, Mr Kofi Boateng Agyen, encouraged the ministry to continue to support private sector growth and expressed the hope that the initiative would help MSMEs to identify ways to grow and employ Ghana�s youth.