The Central Region Trade, Tourism and Investment Fair Expo 2023 has been launched in Cape Coast.
The Regional Minister Honorable Mrs. Justina Marigold Assan, launching the EXPO’ 23 said the launching was very important because it will significantly transform and also unlock the economic potentials of the vision of the Central Expo’. ” This is to create visibility for Central Region on trade, tourism and investment opportunities to the general public, especially the financial and business communities”, she noted.
The theme for this year’s Expo is “ Sustaining Business Opportunities: Nurturing Small and Medium Enterprises in the Central Region”.
According to her, the theme again throws a great challenge to all gathered at the launch, especially the business community to help sustain gains made during the last year Central Expo’, by adopting best business practices that help businesses to thrive.
“ It is important that we all work together to attract more trade and investment opportunities into the Region to consolidate our rating by the Ghana living Standards Survey report as the fourth richest Region in the Country. We can further improve on this feat if we are able to improve the performance of our small and medium scale enterprises by providing platforms and sell their goods”, she added.
Mrs. Assan urged the publicity committee to also adopt strategies adopted by other Regions who have organized such Regional programmes to attract the media to advertise their EXPO’ Nationwide.
The Regional Minister also called on the media houses in the Region to help disseminate information on the upcoming EXPO’ so as to make the needed impact it deserves, especially Media General and other TV stations to sell the programme to the general public.
She requested the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to help sustain the Regional Farmers Market which she observed, has become attractive to the residents in the Metropolis and beyond by identifying more farmers in the respective areas to participate in the market.
Mrs. Assan appealed to all Committee members, stakeholders and the general public to take keen interest in ensuring the success of this year’s EXPO’ programme.
The Chief Director, Mr. Kingsley Agyei-Boahene extended his greatest pleasure, on behalf of the RCC and the planning committee by warmly welcoming all to the launch of Central EXPO’ 2023.
The Chief Executive Officer of COA Research and Manufacturing Company Limited, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan expressed his excitement about the developments in the Region under the distinguished leadership of the Honourable Regional Minister.
“It is therefore important that as leadership charts this new path, the various stakeholders are engaged actively so as to receive their valuable inputs to make this initiative more beneficial”, he indicated.
Professor Duncan reiterated his privilege to be part of last year’s EXPO’. and amazement at the various agro-industries that are doing their best to produce, package, and sell various products to the public.
“We saw how the local rice industry is receiving the needed recognition, an initiative, I was told is being championed by the Regional Minister herself”, he happily noted.
The COA CEO further expressed happiness for recognizing majority of the entrepreneurs as youths.
Professor Duncan again lauded the need to allow a greater percentage of the entrepreneurs to be females.
“It is interesting to note that most of these young entrepreneurs have never received any formal training or mentorship in entrepreneurship. From my interaction with some of them, I could see the hunger for excellence beaming in their eyes. This is a remarkable development”, he observed.
He called for help for them to think outside the box relative to their packaging, marketing, and presentation.
He also called on the importance that these are made to understand and appreciate the challenges that these youthful entrepreneurs must overcome in order to survive in a typical Ghanaian business environment.
They must be challenged to expand the scope of their business beyond the African continent. They must be helped to design sustainability structures within their set-ups”.
He continued by identifying the Media as being one of the major stakeholders that must be involved actively in order to achieve these objectives.
“Oftentimes, they are oblivious to the direction of leadership. As a result, some of them become vulnerable to persons who may have parochial interests. But cannot achieve these beautiful objectives without the media. It is for this reason that I challenge the Regional administration, leadership of business associations, and the regional executive committee of the Ghana Journalists Association to forge a closer working collaboration. In the recent past, there may have been some excesses. But then, we can also point to some remarkable successes from the work of the media in the Region.
Let us focus on what unites us and build a Central Region that will be the preferred destination for businesses in Africa”, he appealed.
“Moreover, as we all know, we were able to successfully mount an excellent exhibition to create visibility in areas of trade, tourism and investment last year”, the CEO stressed.
He recalled the determination to build on last year’s successes to attract more than 300 exhibitors.
This year’s CENTRAL EXPO’23 will commence on the 25th August to 2nd September 2023, an event which will make history with this year’s Fetu Afahye of Oguaa at the Adisadel College Park, Cape Coast.