Bush's visit ignites new American business interest

Accra, Feb. 20, GNA - The focus on Ghana by US President George W. Bush in recent times has ignited a new trend of American business interest and exploration in a triangular venture to propel Ghana into the global market place.

The triangular venture seeks to focus on and develop collaboration with the government, business communities and educational institutions to make Ghana a competitive destination in the global market place, Mr Joseph Paul Cool, President of Cool and Associates Incorporated of US told the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday.

"Development in the global marketplace calls for pragmatic business operation orientation by countries to attract the necessary investors.as nobody would pay attention to you if you don't create value for your products - tangibles and intangibles," he said.

Mr Cool is currently in the country as advanced team leader under the Mosaic Ghana Initiative, which seeks to connect Michigan and Ghana to provide significant opportunities for growth.

The exploration would focus on common market sectors - mining, light manufacturing, transportation, communications, health care, long distance learning, athlete training, student exchange programmes and unique products for Michigan merchants in the area of joint ventures, distributorships, investment and consulting.

Mr Cool explained that Mosaic Ghana Initiatives is a coalition of several south-eastern Michigan companies including Multicultural Community Partnership, MBC Global, Cool and Associates, Divine Breeze, Russell and Associates, all Michigan-based international organizations in collaboration with Paulson Ventures of Ghana.

Mr Cool would speak to the students and operatives in business communities in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Atimpoku on various topics including: "Key Success Factors from a Global Perspective", "Going Global-The Challenges for Local Employers" and "Marketing in the Global Marketplace".

He said Mosaic mission sought to use Ghana, not only as a gateway to Africa but also to establish Accra as the hub of Mosaic Africa centre. Mr Paul Adotey, Chief Executive Officer of Paulson Ventures, noted that African nations with high youth unemployment rates continued to thwart small and medium businesses with heavy legal burdens and piecemeal reforms. He therefore called for intensification of business operational reforms to make the continent competitive in the global marketplace, stressing that Eastern European countries were aggressively courting entrepreneurs with far-reaching reforms that streamlined business regulations and taxes. Mr Adotey said jobs were a priority for every country, especially African countries, as they sought to accelerate development and alleviate poverty and noted that the creation of enabling environment for business was a key instrument to fighting poverty. He said women, who made up three-quarters of the work force in most African and some developing economies, would be big beneficiaries of such interventions.