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Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has announced that government have started discussing the details of a financial programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said the objective of the initial discussions with the IMF was to deliver jobs and growth with stability for the economy. Vice President Amissah-Arthur was speaking at the opening of the third Regional Ministers Conference in Wa in the Upper West Region. The four-day conference, which is being attended by the Regional Ministers as well as Chief Directors of the various regions is on the theme: �Game change for the economy: The role of the regional level of governance�. It is also expected that the participants at the end of the conference, would come out with proposals that reflect the need for change in the economic paradigm of the regions and districts. Vice President Amissah-Arthur said though many Ghanaians have not understood the reason behind the decision to seek for technical and financial support from the IMF in achieving its economic objectives, the Fund have access to other country information that Ghana may not possess. He said the IMF can provide assurances that the nation is on the right path in its choices and also point out the flaws when the implementation of a policy is not up to the expected standard. Vice President Amissah-Arthur also stated that too much lip service have been paid to the policy of using Local Economic Development (LED) to change the economic paradigm of the regions and the districts. He said the effective utilization of local raw materials in partnership with the local private sector and financial institutions has the potential to provide employment and income generation as well as increased productivity and infrastructure generation to support the economy. He said the Policy and Operational Manual of LED had been ready for more than a year now and charged the Regional Ministers to take the necessary measures to implement the policy. Mr Julius Debrah, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development urged the participants attending the conference to take the issue of changing the economic model of the regions and the districts very serious. He said the meeting also provides opportunity for them to brainstorm on important decisions that is critical for development. Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, Upper West Regional Minister stated that, despite the vast arable lands suitable for the cultivation of maize, yam, millet, sorghum and groundnut, among others, the region is unable to produce enough food due to the erratic single rainfall pattern. He appealed to government to rehabilitate the poor roads network in the region, because out of a total of 4,655 kilometres of roads only 195 kilometres have been tarred.