Government is set to invest $79 million from the World Bank-funded Ghana Economic Transformation Project, to support the development of Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones being developed by private sector investors and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The package is part of a new World Bank project known as Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP) for the development of Ghana’s industrial landscape.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen disclosed this at the signing ceremony of four projects including the Ghana Economic Transformation Project, Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project, and Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project in Accra.

He stated that, the Ministry’s collaboration with the World Bank Group in the past to build industrial development capacities in Ghana resulted in the establishment of the Tema Export Processing Zone.

“This time the Ministry aims to scale up to cover One-Region-One Park (1R1P) being implemented under the Government’s 10-point Industrial Transformation Agenda” the Trade Minister stressed.

The guiding principle of this project, he stated, is to promote and strengthen a growth model that is conducive to economic transformation to achieve higher rates of investment and productivity growth across the economy, especially in non-resource-based sectors.

Mr Kyerematen emphasised government’s resolve to develop the industrial land banks into Special Economic Zones that necessary to engender improved export trade performance, particularly the non-traditional sector and take advantage of initiatives such as AGOA with the United States, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The Trades Minister added that the comprehensive economic transformation model will support key activities under three complementary components.

Mr Kyerematen thanked World Bank for accepting the challenge to fund the Ghana Economic Transformation Project as a term loan to be dedicated to the productive sector of the Ghanaian economy and urged the beneficiary private sector businesses to take advantage of this opportunity by the Akufo-Addo administration.