President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday challenged the Ghana chapter of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) to build the capacity and develop the culture of rapid response to disasters. Disasters strike unannounced and this underscores the need for capacity building in all societies to be able to respond to such emergencies appropriately with dispatch, he stated at the opening of the CILT International Annual General Conference at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra on Wednesday. He said achieving this demanded not only logistics and transport but also professional skills, including sensitivity to prevailing socio-political conditions. Her Royal Highness Princess Ann, a Past President of the Institute, attended the opening of the two-day conference, which brings together delegates from 17 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America. It is the first time CILT has held its meeting in Africa and the theme was; "Humanitarian Logistics and Sustainable Development." President Kufuor said he was happy about the increasing number of Ghanaian professionals, who were joining the Institute and the skills they were being assisted through education to acquire. This, he noted, was important in view of current growth of the national economy and the potential jobs that awaited them. He said the Government, as part of its aggressive push to accelerate the growth of the economy and the progress of the nation had focussed on infrastructure development in terms of road networks, modernisation and expansion of ports and railways as one of its major priorities over the past six years. As a result the country was now being opened up for more trade and industries as well as improved social interaction. President Kufuor said additionally, government was facilitating the integration of the ECOWAS sub-region and already work was on-going on the transportation corridors linking various parts of the sub-region with trade between Ghana and the landlocked neighbours of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. He therefore invited the non-African delegates to take advantage of the vast investment opportunities in logistics and transport in the country and the sub-region. Mr Richard Hunt, International President of CILT, said efficiency in the management of transport services was important to the growth of the economies of nations. The Institute had therefore, designed specific training programmes to support this, he said. Source: GNA