Vice President John Dramani Mahama, has urge all Ghanaians living abroad to take advantage of the transformation of Ghana’s economy to return home to work and invest in different sectors of the economy. Addressing the Ghanaian community in New York, he said it was crucial for Ghanaians in the Diaspora “to develop short to long-term plans to eventually return to Ghana to contribute to the development of the country.” He said the government would develop a database system of Ghanaian professionals abroad to mach up their skills with job avenues in Ghana. The highly attended meeting gave the members of the Vice-President’s entourage, including the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Seth Terkper; the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Rojo Mettle-Nunoo; the Deputy Minister of Women and Children Affairs, Hajia Hawawu Boya; the Mayor of Accra, Mr. Alfred Vanderpuije, and the Chairman of the Energy Committee, Mr. Moses Asaga, the opportunity to explain government policies and ongoing projects and programmes in Ghana. Ghanaians in the USA also took the opportunity to register their reservations about high duties at the ports, the poor attitude of Ghanaian workers and the increasing incidence of cyber fraud among the youth in Ghana. Mr. Mahama said Ghana’s economy has had recovered from the effects of the world economic recession and indicated that the country recorded 7.7 percent in 2010, from 4.7 percent in 2009. He attributed the growth in the economy to the government’s prudent management, noting, for instance, that inflation has reduced to a single digit, while the cedi has stabilised against other foreign currencies. The Vice-President said this year, the economy was expected to grow by 12.3 percent. He said the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had even predicted that Ghana’s economy would grow by 14 percent, which will be the highest rate of growth in the world this year. He said if Ghana’s economy grew between eight and 10 annum within the next six to seven years, the economy and the per capital income will double. He reiterated the government’s commitment to continue to pursue prudent measures to facilitate the growth of the economy. Mr. Mahama told Ghanaians outside the country that there were opportunities in the oil sector that they could take advantage of. For instance, he said, oil geologists and physicists among them could work on the rig, while others could work in the service sectors. Source: Daily Graphic