The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, has urged the government to do more than just the creation of an enabling environment for the private sector. He said there was the need for the government to lead the private sector into trade negotiations sometimes, since some deals were better done by governments. "Ghanaian industries cannot break into the global market alone without the direct support of the government. Even with the help of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) it is important that the government gets actively involved in shaping the private sector to reach its deserved status," he said in Accra. Mr Oteng-Gyasi made the remarks at the launch of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the association which comes off next year. The occasion was used to unveil the anniversary logo of the association and outline programmes earmarked for the occa¬sion. As part of activities marking the anniversary, which has the theme "Creating African Industrial Giants", there will be the publication of a jubilee directory, an ECOWAS private sector conference and exhibition, regional days, institution of an endowment fund for industrial innovation and a presentation of a 10-year industrial development agenda, dubbed "Agenda 2018". "The decision of the government to totally withdraw from active participation in business, though laudable, is not the surest way to guarantee private sector growth. It is prudent as a nation to put our money where our mouth is," he said. The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, who spoke on the topic "Finance Ministry's Assistance to Industry Over the Past 50 Years," tasked Ghanaian industries to set the proper tone for business growth. He commended them for promoting good business practices in the country and urged them to take advantage of the government's economic policies, aimed at making the country the preferred business destination. The association was started in 1958 by some indigenous Ghanaian industrialists with the name "Federation of Ghanaian Industries (FGI)". To broaden its base to include other manufacturers, foreign owned, public and multinational companies, the name was changed in 1961 to the Ghana Manufacturers Association (GMA). In 1984, the association, during a constitutional review, moulded its constitution in line with the Confederation of British Industries to cater for all sectors and that necessitated the change of name from (GMA) to the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). Recounting how it started in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Rev. Timothy Adjei Adjetey, the only surviving founding member of the association, said the socialist inclination of the Nkrumah government was not favourable for private companies and that the association was mainly formed to seek assistance from the government and foreign businesses. He congratulated the new members for bringing the association to the present level and encouraged them to go the extra mile to ensure that Ghanaian industries got their place in the business world. Source: Daily Graphic