Amissah-Arthur attends Russia-Africa Economic Forum

Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur will leave Accra on Tuesday for Saint Petersburg, Russia to participate in the Russia-Africa Economic Forum.

The three-day programme slated from 16th June, 2016 to 18th June, 2016 will attract hundreds of participants from both the advanced countries and the developing economies, especially in Africa.

They include heads of government, representatives of the European Union (EU), World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), academia, media and civil defence and natural disaster organisations.

The forum, which will be characterised by panel discussions, will examine the extent to which global challenges such as epidemics of infectious diseases impact negatively on the economies of countries and entire regions and what measures could be taken to halt such emergencies.

The discussions will also dwell on the news trends in global geo-political economy and its ramifications on Africa’s market share of world trade and its struggle to revamp its economy to attract investments as well as improve the material conditions of its people.

During one of the sessions, the Vice President will in response to questions from the moderator brief the gathering about the various interventions which the government has instituted over the years to reconstruct the economy and ensure the social renewal of the society. Mr. Amissah-Arthur is billed to confer with the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, on ways of cementing trade and other forms of economic relations between the two countries.

Ghana-Russia trade statistics indicates that external trade turnover declined from $1.42 billion in 2010 to $1.02 in 2015, while Russia’s share in Ghana’s total external trade stood close at 0.4 per cent in 2015.

Captains of the Russian industry are also expected to call on the Vice President on the sidelines of the forum to seek investment opportunities in Ghana, especially in the agriculture, mining, tourism and oil and gas sectors.

The Vice President is also expected to interact with the Ghanaian community during which he will shed light on the successes chalked by the government and challenges confronting it in its management of the economy and efforts designed to transform the lives of the vast majority of the people.