Mills commissions new cocoa processing company

Mpintsin (W/R), Feb. 19, GNA - President John Atta Mills, on Friday commissioned a 40-million-dollar wholly owned Ghanaian cocoa processing company, Plot Enterprise (Ghana) Limited, at Mpintsin near Takoradi. The President observed that some cocoa processing companies in the past collapsed few months after their commissioning because of lack of coco= a beans.

President Mills urged the Ghana Cocoa Board to ensure regular supply of cocoa beans for Plot Enterprise to stay in business to show what Ghanaia= n companies could achieve when given the opportunity.

He said the company and other Ghanaian companies needed support to create jobs for the people and add value to the country's natural product= s. President Mills reiterated the determination of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to fulfill its manifesto promises to transform th= e economy to accelerate growth and development. He said the company was currently producing cocoa liquor, cocoa butte= r and cocoa cake and urged the management to also produce chocolate and other cocoa products. President Mills advised workers to give out their best because whethe= r or not the company succeeded depended on them.

Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, said the commissionin= g of the company, demonstrated the confidence of the Government in the abilit= y of local entrepreneurs and added that Government would continue to provide the needed push to enable them to occupy their rightful place in the nation building process. He called on local and foreign investors to take advantage of the numerous agricultural produces in the region including oranges, rubber, ric= e and most especially the fishing industry and establish agro processing factories for these products.

Mr Aidoo said cocoa road projects covering a distance of 87 kilometer= s were on-going in the region at a cost of over GH¢16 million. Mr Anthony Fofie, Chief Executive Officer of Cocobod, promised to provide the needed support to the management of Plot Enterprise. He noted that the Western Region produced 60 per cent of the national cocoa output.

Mrs Patricia Poku-Diaby, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the company would offer quality products at fair prices to it= s customers. She asked the government to assist the company to compete favorably with multinational competitors in the cocoa processing industry.