A strategy to boost local and foreign investor interest in the salt industry to promote employment, revenue generation and export has been launched in Accra. The strategy seeks to attract domestic and foreign direct investments into the Tekperbiawe area of Ada and its environs to expand production and benefit from the economies of scale. Ghana has the production potential of 2.2 million metric tonnes of salt annually but currently produces only 250,000 metric tonnes. Experts say the Ada area alone has the potential to produce about 1.5 million metric tonnes annually. The strategy is as a result of a year-long collaborative effort between Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC), Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF) and Commonwealth Secretariat, collecting data and engaging in discussions with stakeholders including micro and small-scale salt producers. Discussions were also held with selected financial institutions, donor partners, and government institutions to ascertain financial schemes and support packages available to the sector. Mr Edward Collins Boateng, Executive Secretary of Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC), said the discovery of oil should provide the necessary impetus for concrete action to develop the salt industry in the country. Salt is a major raw material in the oil drilling process, where it is used to lubricate and cool the drill-bit as well as in the disposal of drilling mud, a toxic waste from the drilling process. "The oil industry will not wait for us to solve our problems in the salt sector before they commence commercial production. We therefore have to act very fast," Mr Boateng said. Current world demand for salt is 256 million metric tonnes (mmt) with China as the leading supplier with annual exports of 50 million metric tonnes (mmt). Global demand is forecast to rise tremendously and Indonesia, a net-exporter, had to import salt in 2008 to support domestic industrial activities. Mr Boateng called on policy makers, support organizations as well as enterprises to accelerate the pace of the sector's development. Besides, factors which hamper the growth of the industry such as land litigation, lack of access to adequate credit, obsolete technology, and an underdeveloped salt export infrastructure, must be addressed. As part of the strategy, a model has been proposed to help end litigation in the Ada area to facilitate foreign direct investment. The strategy also advocates a salt-development company in which the various clans in the area would have commercial interests and another company limited by guarantee. The Tekperbiawe Clan Foundation, which is expected to eventually rope-in the minor clans of Adibiawe, Lomobiawe and Danmebiawe to assure investors that they deal with only one organization. The strategy isolates the different categories of salt producers on the basis of their volume, scale of operation and growth potential and recommended actions to be taken at various levels. It is also intended to set realistic targets to increase volumes, incomes and productivity by developing more innovative approaches in mobilizing individual production units to increase economies of scale. Source: GNA