The Presidium meeting of the International Federation of Musicians has been held in Accra to deliberate on issues affecting musicians globally and to receive progress report from member countries.

The delegates took the opportunity while in the country to participate in activities marking Ghana's Golden Jubilee. They also paid courtesy calls on the ministers of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr S. K. Boafo and Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations.

The delegation was made up of John Smith, President, Benoit Machuel and Beat Sancta, both vice presidents Mr Boafo reaffirmed government's commitment to assist musicians in the country.

He said government's decision to abolish taxes on imported musical instruments was an indication of its support to help develop the music industry.

Mr Boafo said the ministry would continue to support the MUSIGA, which until recently had not received the deserved recognition and commended Alhaji Sidiku Buari, President of the MUSIGA for his hard work.

Mr Smith announced that plans were far advanced to undertake projects of mutual benefits in Africa aimed at helping musicians to acquire their own instruments, design good contracts, improve distribution networks and produce quality music.

Mr Smith said such projects which were being undertaken in Burkina Faso on a pilot basis, would be replicated in other African counties as they were yielding good results.

Touching on the downloading of musical works from the Internet, Mr Smith said it was a problem affecting musicians all over the globe but not in Ghana alone and that measures were being put in place to stem the tide.

Alhaji Sidiku Buari expressed the gratitude of musicians to government for removing taxes on imported musical instruments. He appealed to the government to support the Union in procuring equipment to monitor the broadcast media to ensure that they log music played on air to ensure fair collection of royalties due to musicians. Alhaji Buari also commended government for its role in checking piracy but expressed misgivings about problems faced by young musicians in accessing credit and called for measures to resolve them.

GNA