He said the Upper West Region had huge potentials that could be explored and harnessed by exporters such as Shea nuts, groundnuts, soya beans, chilli pepper, cotton as well as handicrafts such as the Lawra baskets, xylophones and smocks among other things.

Mr. Chinnia was speaking in Wa during the (GEPA) Conference on Implementation of the National Export Strategy in Relation to the One-District-One-Export-Product in the regions of Ghana”. He described the programme as timely and very essential to the region due to the lack of adequate knowledge in the export sector among many business men and women in the Region.

“It is surprising that the Upper West Region cannot boast of major exporters making any impact in the Region,” he said. Mr. Alhassan said he was convinced that the “One-District-One-Export-Product” would complement the Government’s flagship policy of “One District, One Factory” by providing raw materials to feed the factories.

He, however, bemoaned the lack of value addition to exportable products in the country, saying that in the 21st Century the policy of value addition to products before exporting must seriously be pursued as the country stood the chance of gaining a lot from value addition to products.

Mr. Alhassan called on the 11 Municipal and District Chief Executives in the Region to give the needed support to GEPA’s “One-District-One-Export-Product” programme and also create the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive in their districts. Madam Gifty Klenam, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEPA, in a speech read on her behalf, said the districts was the bedrock of their export drive without which their export supply base would continue to deteriorate.

She noted, therefore, that their vision was to operate regional offices that would have district representatives who would see to the full implementation of the “One-District-One-Export-Product” concept. “We want to see to the full implementation of this project to help us achieve the target we have set for ourselves; thus to develop and promote exports vigorously to achieve NTE Exports worth 10 billion United States Dollars in four years,” Madam Klenam said.

She described the intent and purpose of the project as critical because it was premised on two development planks including the dictates of the National Export Strategy and the policy of the Government which saw export as the key driver to economic growth and development.