The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiatives is implementing a support programme to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Ghanaian industries and products, both locally and internationally. As a result, a national quality steering group has been farmed to develop an operational framework for the integration of quality management into the country's trade and industry through educational programmes. The Deputy sector Minister, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of a series of educational and sensitisation workshops in Tema, said the initiatives would focus on how SMEs could achieve their goals to promote the export business. He noted that in recent times many Ghanaian products had been refused entry into certain international markets because they couldn’t meet the entry test of regulatory requirements, while others had not been consistent enough to make the producer a reliable long-term supplier. Mr. Agyemang-Manu said the new initiative was aimed at creating awareness of what consumers demanded in destination markets and what the legal requirements were. He said the ministry had also launched a website - www.sps-tbtghana.org - that would give information to help exporters to meet the point of entry demands. The deputy minister described the country's trade policy as "outward looking", noting that it addressed the challenges that global markets, with their standards and demands, were imposing on Ghanaian firms. He observed that quality had become a very crucial element in successfully entering high-income markets. He cautioned industrialists to ensure its success by getting fully involved in training staff, and not merely implementing the systems without cost. He urged the SMEs to be quality conscious to enable them to meet the competition in the trade sector of the economy of the country. Mr Agyemang-Manu commended Athena Foods Limited, manufacturers of fruit juices and concentrates, for setting the pace in the search for quality management systems in Ghana. The company, which operates in the free zones enclave in Tema, has operated successfully and six years ago it received organic certification from SKAL of Holland, followed by similar certifications from SGF of Germany and Coca Cola. Mr Agyemang-Manu said the practice of quality management systems had afforded Athena Foods to achieve its goals. He urged all other companies to emulate the success story of the Athena, which was used as the showcase in the food processing sector, to open new opportunities to enter export markets. The Managing Director of Athena Foods, Dr. Tony Antwi Mensah, called on other industrialists to accept the initiative of quality systems by the Ministry of Trade and show their eagerness to support the programme. He cautioned that the enthusiasm must be supported with a sustainable programme to ensure that proper understanding and consistency was made to build up the capacity of the initiative and deliverance of quality goods. Members of the National Steering Group, led by Mrs Goski Alabi, inspected the factory floor and were taken through the production lines by Dr Antwi Mensah. Other members of the Quality Institute include representatives from all regulatory bodies involved in the production, export and consumption sectors of the economy. Source: Daily Graphic