A Consumer Protection Policy that seeks to empower, protect and enhance the welfare of consumers, is to be introduced soon, said the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, on Thursday. Nii Lantey Vanderpuije said the Ministry was also in the process of developing a comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility Policy for the country, which would underscore the importance that government attaches to creating conducive environment for business activities. Mr Vanderpuije made this known at the launch of the 3rd Ghana Customer Service Week under the theme: “Customer Service Excellence: A key to business growth and National Development” in Accra. He noted that the last few decades had seen radical change in the way the public and private sectors relate to customers or clients. Mr Vabnderpuije said the effects of globalization, transparency, accountability, human rights issues and privatization, had led to the emergence of a new approach to business-society relations. He said customer service excellence as a culture must be imbibed in all and called for effective awareness creation, education and the need to share global best practices. Mr Vanderpuiye said most public sector institutions had developed customer service centres to address issues in a speedy manner while in some other jurisdictions, customers had a 24-hour direct line services to ensure their satisfaction. He said a business which focused on providing good customer service would take the pain to go the extra mile to understand and anticipate the customer needs and therefore design goods and services to meet those needs. “We should also identify, reward and recognize organizations and individuals’ contributions and commitments to customer service excellence, promote the platform for dialogue between all the actors to support customer service excellence and institute a day in Ghana to celebrate customer service,” Mr Vanderpuiye said. Mr Hector Wulff, Founder of the Ghana Customer Service, said as the country positioned itself as an emerging business and investment hub on the African continent, there was the need for people to place much premium on achieving a national culture of customer service excellence in accordance with international best practices. He said this would enhance customer and investor confidence towards a good business environment leading to a sustained growth of the economy. “We can achieve this through the annual Ghana Customer Service Week and other initiatives dedicated to the development of customer service in Ghana,” he added.