Trade Minister, Hannah Tetteh has inaugurated a 15-member program steering committee to oversee the implementation of the third phase of the Rural Enterprises Program. The Program which started in 1995 as a pilot project has now developed into a full fledged program being run by the Trade Ministry with support from partners such as the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Speaking at the inauguration of the steering committee, the Minister noted that the project which started in 13 districts has now gone nationwide with the third phase expected to roll out in 106 districts. According to her, the third phase of the Rural Enterprises Program will focus on developing the micro, small and medium enterprises in the rural areas since they are vital for growing the country’s private sector. The Trade Minister also noted that the second phase of the REP project which ends this year, exceeded its target of training 70,000 beneficiaries and thus charged members of the Program Steering Committee to ensure that the third phase of the program is also successful. The program Steering Committee is chaired by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade, Nii Ansah-Adjaye and has representation from the Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning, Local Government and Rural Development, Food and Agriculture, Women and Children’s Affairs and Employment and Social Welfare. There are also representatives from the National Development Commission, the private sector, the national board for small scale industries, GRATIS foundation, the association of rural banks (ARB) Apex Bank and four district chief executives in REP participating districts.