Ghanaian youths aged between 25 and 45 years are being recruited to work in the hospitality industry in the United States. The recruitment exercise started at the Tema Labour Department on Monday under the supervision of the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment, in collaboration with a venture capital investor, Paulson Ventures Limited of Ghana and Cultural Homestay International of the US. A joint committee of security and human resources experts from the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment, Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghana Immigration Services, and Paulson Ventures were screening the applicants. In an interview with newsmen, Dr Charles Brempong Yeboah, Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment, described the exercise as “brain gain”. "We have looked at exportation of human resources from a very myopic perspective in the past as brain drain, but in a globalize market, exportation of human resources is described as brain gain." He said the nation stands to gain from human resource exportation through remittances, payment of taxes, and acquisition of modern skills and orientation to work at optimum efficiency. Dr Yeboah assured interested applicants that the relevant public agencies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security and the Ghana Immigration Services had checked the background of the recruiting companies and found them to be genuine. He said Ghana's Mission abroad would periodically check on the companies involved to ensure that they adhere to the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding. Dr Okoampa Archer, Director, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry, said successful applicants are expected to acquire new skills, gain international exposure and in some cases, learn how to set-up own business. He said the government, in partnership with the consultants, was making efforts to ensure the sustainability of the programme, where beneficiaries would afterwards be absorbed into the hospitality industry in Ghana to boost the tourism sector. Dr Archer said the programme of human resource exportation also conforms to the goals and objectives of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II, as well as the Millennium Development Goals. Explaining the recruitment process Mr Paul Adotey, Chief Executive Officer of Paulson Ventures Limited said applicants would undergo a series of orientation, screening and training, prior to their movement to the United States. He said the names of successful applicants would be forwarded to the principals in the U.S to be issued with the necessary permits. "Once you enter the States, you will be given a Social Security Identification Number, and other related working and residential documents. You will also be paid exactly as any other worker according to competency and qualification," he added. Source: GNA