Export Promotion Council Undertakes Market Survey

The Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) is undertaking a market demand survey in some member countries of the Economic Community for West African States to make it easier for goods from Ghanaian industries to penetrate the sub-regional market.

The move, which is part of a broad export strategy by the Council, is to improve on the level of access of Ghanaian goods and make the sub-regional market the main direction of the country's export. Currently, about 60 per cent of export trade is with countries in the European Community while the ECOWAS market gets only 25 per cent.

The General Manager of the GEPC, Mr Kweku Adu Mensah who announced this said the Council has already concluded surveys in five countries and would soon be targeting the market with plastic, pharmaceuticals, garments and foam products. He was speaking at a press conference on a recent Made in Ghana Products Solo Exhibition, which the Association of Ghana Industries held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Thirty-four Ghanaian companies participated in the exhibition held between July 29 and August 5 on the theme: "Advancing Regional Integration Through Trade." He said the main aim of the Council in adopting the strategy is to help Ghanaian companies to penetrate and improve on their distribution network in the countries in the Sub-Region. Mr Adu Mensah said the government is making every effort to eliminate problems that inhibit trade between Ghana and her neighbouring countries.

He said as a first step the GEPC and the Ghana Investment Promotion Council recently launched a mission to learn at first hand the difficulties that companies encounter at border posts of neighbouring countries. He said the major difficulty industries encountered is the refusal of customs officials, especially those in the Francophone countries, to apply rules that governed duties and tax payments under the ECOWAS Trade and Liberalisation Scheme. Mr Mensah said to resolve the issues; the GEPC is encouraging companies to obtain the certification under the scheme, while education on it continued, to enable them to access the markets.