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The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Sarpong, has deplored the low level of investment in the Ashanti Region in spite of the numerous opportunities available. He cited the processing activities at Soboba, the metal fabrication and engineering at Suame magazine, wood carving at Atonso, kente weaving at Bonwire, palm oil processing at Anwiankwanta as some of the business opportunities available for expansion in the region aside form tourism and opportunities in the service sector. He said the region was the nerve centre for business, commerce, tourism and culture and its central location �and the fact that it is the most populous region in the country makes it a viable destination for all types of businesses.� Mr Sarpong, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the first Ashanti business and investment fair in Kumasi, said the region also attracted people from all over the country and the sub-region thus, �any positive development, particularly business in the Ashanti Region, will have a reflection on the fortunes of the entire nation.� Mrs Edith Dankwa, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Business and Financial Times, organisers of the fair, said the fair was to unearth investment opportunities �which we are convinced exist in abundance but have not been explored enough.� She said the fair was the third in series being organised by the company after the previous ones in Tamale and Takoradi to open up the regions to business communities for investment. In a speech read on his behalf , the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrissu, said as part of government�s programme to promote investment in the country, all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies had been tasked to identify at least one investment opportunities that could be packaged to attract investments. He said networking was key for the success of every business and urged the exhibitors to take key interest in the feedback from their clients to know their demands in order to supply them. He said small and medium scale industries constituted close to 90 per cent businesses in the country and there was the need to increase their capacity to improve on their activities. The four-day exhibition and fair was the theme: �Promoting trade and investment through effective business networking�.