Accra-Ghana, Dec. 19, GNA – Ghana is working with the Korean Republic to develop and utilise technological innovations ecosystem.
Mr. Oliver Boachie, Special Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations (MESTI), said in tandem with that agenda, a master plan was being developed to serve as a blueprint for a more coordinated work to support systems for technological innovations in the country.
“The idea is to institute vibrant support programmes in place to help engender creativity, intellectual property rights management, funding, amongst others,” Mr. Boachie told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in an interview in Accra
This was on the sidelines of a dissemination workshop on the “2022 K-Innovation Partnership Programme (Ghana)”.
According to the MESTI Special Advisor, the country “has the potential, goodwill and support of our development partners to get there.
“It is left with our own ambitions, our work ethic. If you are doing the right things, you will get there automatically”.
The Government of Ghana through MESTI, is collaborating with the Korean Government through the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), a research and development organization, as part of Korea’s K-Innovation ODA Partnership Programme.
The partnership seeks to support Ghana in developing a robust and economically – viable technological innovations system in the country, thereby ensuring effective operationalisation of the Ghana Innovation and Research Commercialisation (GIRC) Centre.
Leveraging the good bilateral ties between the two countries, the idea is to share experiences, while promoting technology transfer and innovative ideas.
The Korean Republic, as of 2021, had the 10th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$1.8 trillion globally.
According to development analysts, that achievement was coming on the back of the country’s huge investment in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
Mr. Boachie indicated that several activities had taken place over the last twelve months under the Partnership Programme, including a project kick-off, capacity-building and dissemination workshops.
All of those, he said, drew participants and stakeholders from both Ghana and Korea, adding that a situational analysis of technology innovation support programmes in Ghana had also been conducted.
The results, together with some recommendations, had been shared during those stakeholder engagements.
Dr. Wangdong Kim, Project Manager, and a Senior Research Fellow, Division of Global Innovation Strategy – STEPI, said the Korean Republic was committed to sharing its development experiences with Ghana.
More importantly, the objective was to contribute to advancing innovation and sustainable development by supporting innovative research and commercialisation.
