He said it had an unwavering conviction that this was the way forward to create jobs and lift the people out of poverty.He was interacting with the Regional Executives of the Kumasi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The members had called on him at his office to congratulate him on his appointment and to discuss ways to grow businesses.

Mr. Osei-Mensah pledged to build stronger relationship with the Chamber – work closely with it to attract more investments into the region.He used the occasion to draw attention to the need to focus priority on renewable energy – solar and the use of waste to generate power.

That, he indicated, was vital to assure industries of relatively cheaper electricity cost, to reduce their overheads and boost profitability. By so doing, they would be able to expand and hire more people, the Regional Minister added.He rallied the Chamber to give solid backing to the one district, one factory policy.

Mr. Yaw Boakye-Yiadom, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Chamber, applauded the government for scrapping some taxes and asked that things were speeded up on the implementation. He spoke of its determination to expose its members to best business practices and aid them to build partnerships to expand their operations.

The Kumasi Chamber has in excess of 300 members and has been working hand-in-hand with the Trade Ministry. He called for the government to take steps to make the public sector more responsive to the needs of businesses – remove bureaucracies that tended to slow down business processes.