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Mr Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance has revealed that the country is lagging behind in terms of infrastructure that could expand the economy and speed up development.

He said "efficient infrastructure creates employment, develop capital, promotes local and foreign exchange investment and trade, fuels businesses and helps to raise the standard of living and access to critical services”.

Meanwhile, it is estimated that Ghana needs to spend at least 1.5 million dollars to close the infrastructure deficit.

Mr Terkper said this at the ongoing third global conference on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Takoradi in the Western Region.

The conference would look at ways of harnessing opportunities, international expertise and resources to accelerate Ghana's PPP Agenda.

The Minster said government desire to develop the various sectors of the economy has been strengthened by immense interest and confidence shown by the international community to help in development.

He said driving development through strong PPP would allow the public sector to tap into the financial and human capital of the private sector.

Mr Joe Barnor, Economist with Global Holdings, explained that the PPP is a contractual arrangement between a public entity and private sector party with clear agreements on shared objectives and risk sharing for the provision of infrastructure.

He said the PPP deals always enable government to provide better infrastructure and services through the use of private sector financial, human and technical and thereby freeing government resources for equally important uses.

Mrs Magdelene Apenteng, Director, Public Investment Division of the Ministry of Finance said the Ministry is developing the legal, institutional and regulatory framework for the PPP programme to ensure effective management of PPP projects.

The PPP policy was launched in October 2011 to open up the country's development in terms of infrastructure for private sector financing and participation.