Effective communication, key to business success - Ms Tetteh

Accra, Dec. 5, GNA - Ms Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry at the weekend said effective communication was the key to the success of businesses at it reflected the company's policies and ideologies for better understanding.

She said government was considering collaborating with the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China to introduce some Chinese language courses in the tertiary institutions to ease the problem of communication. Ms Tetteh said this at an open forum of the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA) dubbed; "Doing Business in Ghana in a Friendly Way II" in Accra.

She said successful businesses were built on good relations and there was the need to establish effective rapport between Ghana and China to enhance friendship and promote deeper collaboration. Ms Tetteh said a good integration between Ghana and China socially was necessary for proper interaction to strengthen the bond between the two countries. She urged Chinese businessmen and women to register their company under the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and its agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Standards Board and the Food and Drugs Board. Ms Tetteh said a Chinese loan of nine billion dollars to Ghana was signed by President John Atta Mills during his official visit to the China in October, aimed at financing Ghana's oil and gas infrastructure and agricultural development. She appealed to the Chinese investors in Ghana to dully comply with the rules and regulations and understand each others culture for peaceful co-existence. Ms Tetteh urged investors to engage the services of professional lawyers to interpret the business laws of the country effectively and avoid criminals who would try to swindle their money. Mr Gong Jianzhong, Ambassador of the People Republic of China, said the bilateral relation between the two countries had strengthened by the day and exchanges increasing rapidly.

He said this was because more and more Chinese were coming to Ghana for promising market and better investment opportunities. Mr Jianzhong expressed the hope that with the efforts of hardworking Ghanaians, Ghana would set a faster pace like China in the economic development and make a great leap forward. Mr John E.K Moses, first Vice President, GHACHIFA, said the association was a non-governmental organization established in 1999 to strengthen the bond of solidarity between the two countries. He said it aimed at fostering collaboration in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. Mr Moses noted that the association was planning to establish cultural centres in Accra and the regions where members would have access to its programmes.

He said plans were underway to introduce the teaching of the Chinese language to enhance inter-cultural exchanges and trade interaction. Noah Gaikpah, Head of Public Relations, GIPC, said the Centre is a government agency re-established in 1994 under Act 478 to promote and facilitate investment in all sectors of the economy with the exception of core mining and petroleum activities. He said Ghana and China established diplomatic relations in July 1960 and that government had further received assistance from the Chinese government in the construction of the Ofankor-Nsawam stretch of the Accra-Kumasi road. Mr Gaikpah said recently the Chinese Government contributed in the construction of the office blocks of the Ministry of Defence and was also assisting in the construction of the Bui Dam with 562 million dollars. 5 Dec. 10