Hon. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi is the substantive Minister for the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry. She is a lawyer by profession and a Member of Parliament for the Prestea Huni Valley Constituency in the Western Region. She studied law at the University of Ghana, Legon and the Ghana School of Law and was called to the Bar in 1989. She also holds Executive Masters degree from the University of Ghana and a Post-graduate Certificate of Proficiency in Legislative Drafting.
She has held various positions in legal management in both public and private institutions like Shell Ghana Limited, Vivo Energy Ghana Limited, Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF),Vlisco Ghana Group, Unilever Ghana Limited, Ansa Asare Company Limited, Vida L. Buckle &Co., Legal Aid Office, FIDA Ghana. She has served as Secretary, Vice President and President of FIDA,Ghana. She has also served on many boards and is a member in a good standing of the Ghana Bar Association. She was former Deputy Minister for Mines at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources before been appointed at the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
As a Member of Parliament with vast minerals-rich constituency, especially in gold, she is ardent in promoting the set-up of a gold museum in the constituency. Gold has been mined and crafted into traditional ornaments for centuries in the area and currently much of the gold is exported with not much value added. She is also promoting sound environmental tourism by upholding the President’s promise of revamping the tourism and arts industry and making it a major revenue earner for the country.
As sector Minister for the Tourism, Arts and Culture ministry, she believes the Ministry which sole responsibility is policy implementation, evaluation and monitoring can achieve most of its objectives by collaborating with the private sector in terms of partnership to boost tourism potentials in the country. She is also championing and encouraging more women to get involved in the tourism business and also focusing more on the Arts and Culture industry by engaging stakeholders to revamp that sector.
