Accra, March 1, GNA – Mr Seth Acheampong, the Minister Designate for Eastern Region, on Monday lauded measures of the Akufo-Addo Government to revive defunct factories, and promised to give impetus to the industrialization drive of that Region.
From presence of numerous water bodies, beautiful land scenery and mountain scarps, fruit and cash crops, clinker and tourism sites, the Minister Designate listed the investment potentials of the Region and declared: “Every potential business in the Eastern Region is a priority”.
Aside the rich human capital present in the Region, the Eastern Region is the region that is closest to the capital and the port city of Tema, which all make it a preferred investment destination among the regions of Ghana.
The Government would therefore team up with other stakeholders, especially the private sector to explore investment opportunities and create jobs for the youth in the Region.
Mr Acheampong, outlined the measures, when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, for vetting for the ministerial portfolio, for which President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo nominated him at the beginning of President Akufo-Addo’s second term of office.
Mr. Seth Acheampong, who was chairman of the Defence and Interior Committee in the seventh Parliament, replaces Eric Kwakye Darfuor as Regional Minister.
Born on December 18, 1971, Mr Acheampong hails from Atibie-Kwahu, a town in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He entered the Graduate School of Management, France, Paris, and obtained his postgraduate diploma in Management in 2008.
The Eastern Regional Minister Designate gave thumbs up to the Government for bring Nsawam based Astek Fruit Processing factory back, with the hope that the defunct Nsawam Cannery would also be back.
Mr Acheampong said if approved by Parliament, he would as Regional Minister collaborate with private sector to take advantage of the presence of large water bodies in the Region to tap into untapped irrigation schemes, and improve irrigation systems.
Road infrastructure would also be improved as he promised to champion large scale mechanized farming.
“It’s about collaboration to drive development to the Eastern Region,” Mr Acheampong said.
On illegal small scale mining called galamsey, the Eastern Region Minister Designate agreed to a suggestion that the practice had impacted heavily on the Region and said strict enforcement of mining regulations would be applied to bring galamsey down.
He proposed a community mining scheme to be deployed and encouraged as part of strategies to bring galamsey down.
Mr Acheampong spoke against reported cases of high incidence online fraud in the regional, but described it as an overflow of activities in the national capital, Accra, and however promised to work with the appropriate authorities to bring it down.
On tourism, the Minister Designate said he would lead a tourism drive to make it take the first position instead of the Central Region.