Mr Aidoo said the performances of the local enterprises served as a parameter, which the big multinational companies use to measure the profitability of business environment of the country they want to investment in.

Mr Aidoo said this in a speech read on his behalf at a day’s Investment Sensitisation Workshop in Takoradi, on the theme: “Industrialization through Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Promotion and Making Land Available for Investment Purposes.”

It was organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), which brought together entrepreneurs, fashion designers, members from the business community as well as the technocrats from the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Region

The event aimed at soliciting information from the participants concerning issues that inhibit the expansion of small and medium enterprises and strategise ways to make them competitive.

The Regional Minister said it was imperative for   the country to break the cycle of over-reliance on the extractive and service industries and rather accelerate the growth of the processing and manufacturing sector through value addition

Mr Aidoo said the Region was endowed with numerous natural resources; however, most of the enterprises fell within the micro categories ,which often lacked efficient production technologies, financial capital and thus employ small number of personnel.

He  in this regard said there was the need for the SMEs to add value to the primary products, in order to create employment for the people, increase profitability and eventually alleviate poverty in the country.

He said: “It is time we begin to look for ways of assisting and promoting the initiatives of local enterprises, which call for the support of all stakeholders if we are to make any headway.” Mr Aidoo urged the various assemblies to create the enabling environment and support young people to develop their entrepreneurial skills in order to take advantage of the investment potentials in the Region.

Dr Richard Adjei, the Deputy Director in-charge of Research and Business Development of the GIPC, assured the participants that the Centre would continue to promote and facilitate investment drive for small-scale and medium enterprises on both local and international markets so that they got the necessary partnership arrangements.

He called for the development of the entrepreneurial skills of Ghanaians so as to drive the productivity of their businesses, adding in 2015, the country recorded $ 2.3 billion dollars Foreign Direct Investment into the local economy following the exploration and production of oil and gas in commercial quantities.

He said in 2014, the Centre registered only six service enterprises from the Region out of 122 in the country, and thus, described the trend as very discouraging. He noted that the Region was fast becoming the industrial hub of the country; therefore, young entrepreneurs must register their businesses with the Centre in order to market them to the local and international investors for potential partnerships.

To register with the GIPC, Dr Adjei urged businesses to first register their businesses with the Register General’s Department in order to get the certificate to commence business, the certificate of incorporation as well as the business code. Mr Albert Ababio, the Regional President of the Association of Ghana Industries, indicated that one of the major challenges facing young entrepreneurs in the Region was the non-availability of land for industrial purposes.

He explained that for businesses to thrive there was the need to make land acquisition easy and  appealed to the MMDAs to facilitate the move through engagements with the traditional authorities and land owners in order to accelerate the development of the nation.