The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Tsutomu Himeno has endorsed the Punctuality Ghana Foundation's ongoing public education awareness campaign on punctuality.
The campaign was aimed at linking punctuality with productivity and the ease of doing business, by so doing bridging the gap between national productivity with internally generated funds.
Mr Himeno appreciated the efforts of the Foundation for coming up with such an initiative to drive the minds of Ghanaians towards the need to be punctual and be time conscious at all times.
He said Japan was known to be a very punctual country and productivity was always high, saying Japan was committed to assist Ghana make strides towards attaining such levels.
He said developed countries have come this far because each and everyone was committed to what they do; stressing that until developing countries come to the realization that everyone mattered in the growth process, development would be slow.
Miss Naa Meryeh Quaynor-Mettle, Project Coordinator, Punctuality Ghana, said the Ambassador's endorsement to the campaign indicated the importance they attached to the campaign.
"We want you to know that we feel very honoured and very inspired to work hard at creating the awareness on the need to link time to productivity," she said.
She said the Foundation, was committed to driving public education awareness campaign in line with the call by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for punctuality and productivity to be at the centre stage of national development and progress.
"We believe that with punctuality tied to productivity and coupled with the ease of doing business, Ghana can marshal more internally generated income to complement our developmental deficit," she said.
She said Japan was one of the most respected countries when it came to the subject matter of punctuality and productivity.
Miss Quaynor-Mettle said the campaign had received 15 endorsements so far from Government Officials, Ministers, the Speaker of Parliament as well as some civil and faith-based organizations who have all acknowledged that our attitude to time and work needed much attention.
"It is clear from all our endorsers that we cannot desire progress when we gross over the fundamentals that development thrives on; that is, punctuality and productivity," she said.
She entreated the ambassador, especially as Ghana's treasured development partner, to consider including the Punctuality Ghana Foundation initiative as part of their support programmes in the country.
She said they were ready to learn, explore, adopt and adapt the Japanese experience, for instance in their educational system that have contributed to making Japan such a disciplined society in order to bring the kind of transformation that Ghana desires.
The Ambassador and Mr Emmanuel Amarquaye, the Punctuality Crusader both later signed the punctuality endorsement pledge.