The Flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof John E.A. Mills, has stated that a government under him shall establish a Trade Adjustment Fund to assist indigenous industries which are negatively affected by free trade in order to adjust to foreign competition. He, however, said the industries would be required to provide a credible adjustment plan to qualify for support. Prof Mills who was presenting the NDC's industrial development policy to' the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Accra yesterday said "we would establish a process far periodic review of tariffs to ensure that our industries stayed competitive while we maximise the benefits of the free trade agreements." He observed that there had been a global trend towards free trade that was reflected in multilateral agreements such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), commitment which had resulted in the dumping of unwholesome goods and other unfair trade practices in the country. He said the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) provided access to regional markets, and that Ghanaian industries faced difficulties in their efforts to access those markets. Prof Mills gave the assurance that an NDC government would ensure the removal of bottlenecks that impeded the realisation of the benefits of the scheme. On financial and industrial development he noted that the government's interventions in recent times had been abused for political purposes which had resulted in the loss of confidence in such efforts. “My pledge to you is to restore the credibility of such interventions by basing them on merit,” he said, adding that the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) under his government would not be a fund for political activists with no track record in industry and entrepreneurship. Touching on SMEs and decentralised industrial development, he indicated that the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) would spearhead an economic decentralisation based on the natural resource endowments in each assembly. "For instance the Suame Magazin in Kumasi could be the centre for the development of an automobile body-building centre, especially for heavy duty tracks," he said. Prof Mills said under his administration the revenue generating agencies of state such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) would have a unified database under the Revenue Agencies Governing Board. This would serve as a measure to increase efficiency in the sector to boost revenue mobilisation. Source: Daily Graphic