The Community Relations Manager of the mining company, Edmund Oduro Agyei, disclosed at the official opening of the 2024 Obuasi Trade Show, on Wednesday.

He said every year, the trade show brought together talented minds, innovative ideas and flour­ishing businesses, all working to­wards a brighter future for Obuasi.

“At AngloGlod Ashanti, our purpose is to mine to empower people and advance societies in the journey towards sustainable devel­opment,” he said.

He acknowledged the instrumen­tal role played by their Community Investment Strategies, first with their three years Social Manage­ment Plan and now the 10-year Socioeconomic Development Plan (SEDP) which was in its third year of implementation.

He noted that it was their belief that the foundation of a diverse and sustainable local economy was in forging a strong partnership between industry and community, stressing that “AngloGold Ashanti has, therefore, committed to the vision, consistently working to­wards community welfare, amongst other things through their 10-Year SEDP’s Enterprise Development Programme.

He disclosed that their Enter­prise Development Programme sought to contribute in diversifying and sustaining the Obuasi economy by equipping residents, especially youth and women in the Adansi and Amansie Traditional areas with technical, vocational and entre­preneurial skills, while supporting them to set up and or grow their businesses.

Mr Oduro Agyei reiterated that under the programme they have launched the Enterprise and Skills Development Centre, a disabili­ty-friendly multi-purpose facility that operates as a one-stop shop centre to support the establishment and growth of Micro Small Medi­um Enterprises (MSMEs).

He indicated that the Business Supply Chain Development project aimed to enhance the capacity of local businesses within Obuasi to improve their ability to secure and perform contracts required by the Mine, while strengthening and enhancing their supply chain networks to secure seamless opera­tions and improved efficiency.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Mr Elijah Adansi-Bo­na, represented by Mr Tony Quan­ing, the Director of the Assembly, commended AngloGold Ashanti for the laudable programme.

According to him, the total development of the municipality was their task, and that the local economy was the backbone of the municipality, hence the trade show was in the right direction.

He disclosed that the Assembly could not do it alone without sup­port from the corporate organisa­tions and other stakeholders like AngloGold Ashanti supporting such initiative, and expressed the Assembly’s commitment and readiness to support AngloGold Ashanti to deliver.

The MCE entreated the advertis­ers and exhibitors to register at the Assembly’s planning unit to capture them to enable the Assembly to easily identify them when there was the need to support them.

He advised them to exhibit the attitude of networking with other people towards supporting the sustainability and development of their businesses.