GIFEX Back Next Year

By Edmund Mingle

Friday, 30 November 2007

A 13-member council tasked to plan and promote the Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Industry Exhibition (GIFEX) for 2008 was inaugurated in Accra yesterday.
GIFEX is an international multi stakeholder exhibition that brings together local and foreign companies and institutions in the timber and wood products industry to promote the development of the industry.

The biennial exhibition, introduced by the Forestry Commission in 1985 but suspended since 1997 due to some challenges, aims at promoting the Ghanaian wood and timber industry towards making the country a hub for quality wood products in West Africa.

The council, chaired by Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, constitutes representatives of relevant organisations including the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD), Ghana Timber Millers Association and Ghana Investment Promotion Council.

In addition, sub-committees on works and services, operations, finance and marketing and public affairs were inaugurated to support the council to plan the event which is expected to take place at the Accra International Conference Centre between October 17 and 27, 2008.

Alhassan Atta, Executive Director of TIDD, inaugurating the council’s sub-committees, urged them to evolve development measures to create awareness about the potentials of the wood industry to contribute immensely to economic growth.

He said it was possible for the country’s wood industry to move from primary processing to a leading secondary processor of wood in the sub-region. To achieve this, he said would require the commitment of all stakeholders in the industry.

He hoped that the Forestry Commission would provide the necessary support and resources to enable the committee to deliver in the interest of the wood industry.