Mr Andrew E. Quayson, Chairman of the Unilever Ghana Foundation for Education and Development (UFED), has said that vibrant small and medium sizes enterprises (SMEs) equipped with the requisite skills and competencies held the key to accelerated socio-economic growth. He said the country's quest for a middle-income status by 2015 could be elusive if the activities of indigenous SMEs were not mainstreamed into national development. Mr Quayson said this at the opening of a two-day entrepreneurship training workshop for 50 SMEs in the northern segment of the Volta Region at Hohoe. At the end of the session, UFED under the auspices of EMPRETEC Ghana Foundation would have trained 770 entrepreneurs in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo and Volta regions. He said the informal sector including SMEs continued to provide jobs for about 85 percent of the labour force in the economy as well as playing a key role in market-driven economies. Mr Nii Ansah Adjaye, Head of Credit Operations, EMPRETEC Ghana Foundation, said the private sector including SMEs, which usually started as small businesses, metamorphosed into multi-nationals and conglomerates were driving the global economies. He recounted the achievement of Mrs Augustine Hammond, Proprietor of JEM Afrik Creations, a recipient of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) award, and said she is a product of his organization. Togbega Gabusu VI, Paramount Chief of Gbi Traditional Area, said most businesses collapsed in the area due to the absence of business technical know-how and competencies and therefore commended UNILEVER and EMPRETEC for taking the giant stride to train entrepreneurs. Source: GNA