Mr Jonathan Tawiah, Principal of the Takoradi Technical Institute (TTI), has said there is the need to give different treatments to both technical institutions and other academic institutions.

He said the obligations of technical institutions have a bearing on the economic transformation of the country in training the relevant manpower for industries and must therefore be given the needed attention and resources in order to execute their mandate.

The Principal of the Takoradi Technical Institute said this at the commissioning of the newly built "Yinson Welding Training Centre".

The Centre is to help train more qualified welders to meet industry standards particularly in the oil and gas sector.

The TTI through the Oil and Gas capacity Building project received a set of equipment to be installed for practical technical training relevant to the sector and Yinson production, the operator of the offshore Cape Three Points came in to build a welding workshop to house the equipment.

The Yinson group, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ghana Education Service, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in 2016 in that regard.

The discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities in the country has ignited the need to train the youth by giving them the necessary skills to take the challenging heights of the oil and gas industry.

The TTI was therefore among five institutions the Ministry of Energy through the support of the World Bank is assisting to train people for the oil and gas centre.

The Principal said in spite of the numerous challenges facing the school, it could boast of two state of the art workshops, five laboratories and a well-controlled stimulator.

Mr Joseph Cudjoe, Deputy Minister for Energy, said lessons learnt from neighbouring countries was indicative enough for the country to properly manage this key natural resource.

He said government would ensure that the appropriate policies and regulations are put in place to ensure the success of the industry.

The Deputy Minister said there should not be any gap between what industries required and what the schools were churning out, adding “this is the opportunity to close in the- future, industries and academia- gap”.

Mr Cudjoe urged the students to be committed to excellence, adding that expertise in this particular field was important to human resource as well as national development.

Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah, the Executive Director of COTVET, said the development of the National TVET qualification framework is to ensure that technical institutions produced qualified and certified personnel in line with industry standards as a measure to bridge the missing gap and enhance the employment regime.

Ms Heather Cameron, the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana said, “This is a new future for Ghana’s youth to better their lives through training and training”.

Mr Lars Eck, Yinson Country Director, said the company was committed to developing local capacities in the industry as a corporate social investment strategy.

In Ghana, Yinson Production, operates the FPSO John Agyekum Kufour which employs many Ghanaians as part of the workforce.

Mrs Eugenia Gifty Kusi, the Deputy Western Regional Minister, said government acknowledges the support of development partners and private entities in helping to advance the various sectors of the economy.

Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Omanhene of Essikado Traditional Area, who chaired the function called for continuous monitoring on industry players to ensure that they kept to their task. He called on the youth to study for the country saying "as a nation, we are good as our technological development”.