The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Donatus Akamugri, has pledged to use the proposed 10-year Prosperity through Enterprise, Agriculture, Resilience and Livelihoods (PEARL) Framework to create jobs, attract investment and improve critical infrastructure across the region.
He said the GH₵8.6 billion development and investment blueprint had the potential to transform the regional economy and improve livelihoods.
Mr Akamugri made the pledge at a stakeholder review meeting on the PEARL Framework in Bolgatanga yesterday.
The meeting followed a Regional Development and Business Forum organised by the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to present and begin stakeholder validation of the 10-year plan.
The framework covers all 15 municipalities and districts in the region.
Mr Akamugri indicated that work was progressing to align PEARL with the National Development Plan and the Regional Integrated Plan in order to ensure that its implementation complemented national development priorities.
He expressed confidence that the initiative would attract support from development partners, investors and the private sector, noting that several stakeholders had already shown keen interest in the programme.
According to him, the government remained committed to exploring every avenue to transform the national economy, while the region would take advantage of available opportunities to secure the development needed to improve the lives of its people.
The minister underscored the need for collective ownership of PEARL and said the programme should be protected from political and administrative changes to ensure continuity.
“We established a fundamental principle that PEARL must belong to the people of the Upper East Region. It must not belong to one institution, one administration or one political party. It must belong to Upper East,” he stressed.
For his part, a development economist and Chairman of the Council of the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU), Dr Bishop Akolgo, said the initiative was designed to deliver tangible and lasting results and set the pace for economic prosperity in the region.
The review forum brought together Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), Members of Parliament (MPs), representatives of financial institutions, CSOs, academia and other development partners to deliberate on ways to accelerate implementation of the PEARL Framework.
FROM FRANCIS DABRE DABANG, BOLGATANGA
You can now read the *Ghanaian Times* and *The Spectator* newspapers digitally on [TimesNewsPlus](https://timesnewsplus.com/newspapers).
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
