Government is to roll out a comprehensive economic agenda called the Medium-term Development Policy, which is expected to leap the Ghanaian economy to an appreciable level. The policy, which begins in 2010 and ends in 2013, is expected to modernize agriculture, improve the country’s financial sector, add value to local products and diversify major sectors of the economy for improved performance. It is to replace the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative that was adopted by the previous government. The implementation of HIPC is currently underway through the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (II) that ends in December this year. Agyei Fosu, Principal Planning Analyst of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), disclosed these to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Saturday at a forum, which was organised by the Ghana MDGs Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in Accra to sensitize the youth on their role in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Ghana MDGs/GCAP is a non-governmental organization that works to constantly remind government of the need to attain the MDGs on or before the 2015 deadline. Mr. Fosu said the rolling out of the policy was in line with the constitution, which stipulates that a new government presents its development agenda to Parliament within one or two years upon assumption of office. He said the NDPC was fine-tuning the policy document before its presentation to Parliament early next year as demanded by the constitution. The country, he noted, was on course to attain the MDGs, insisting that “efforts towards the realization of the goals had been stepped up.” According to him, various mechanisms had also been instituted to ensure that gains made in achieving the MDGs were sustained. Leonard Ackon, Campaign Secretary of Ghana MDGs/GCAP, called on Ghanaians to pressure government to show more commitment towards attaining the MDGs. Mr. Ackon said the MDGs were attainable and called for more action to ensure that the country excelled by attaining them even before the 2015 deadline. “Government must focus more on technical education because it has the potential to increase the country's chances at attaining the MDGs,” he added. Source: GNA