Ghana narrows trade deficit with Indian

Ghana trade deficit with India has narrowed over the past four years since she took steps to increase exports to the Asian country, Mr Abu-Bakar Saddique Boniface, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, said on Thursday.

The trade deficit went from 43 million dollars in 1997 to 33 million dollars last year, Mr Boniface said in a speech read for him at the opening of a two-day business meeting between businessmen from the two countries in Accra.

Exports to India in 1997 were 4.3 million dollars while imports stood at 47.4 million dollars. However, Ghana exported 18 million dollars of goods in 2000 and imported 51.7 million dollars.

The meeting, dubbed "Multi-Product Buyer-Seller Meet" was organised by Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) to provide opportunity to Indian and Ghanaian businessmen to sit face-to-face to discuss and do business.

The EEPC was set up by the Indian Government in 1955 to promote India's export of engineering goods, projects and services. Mr Boniface said the wide range of engineering goods lined up by the EEPC from metallurgical products through to agricultural machinery was the type of goods Ghana needed to expand its industrial base to cater for both local and export markets.

He stressed the need for Ghanaian businessmen to use the opportunity to boost the manufacturing capacity using Indian expertise and technology. "We, therefore, expect more and deeper partnerships to be forged between Indian businessmen and their counterparts in the productive sectors of the economy, especially in agro processing machine tool, auto parts, transport equipment, electronics, jewellery, textile, garment, IT service and packaging."

He said the government through its various programmes was creating an enabling environment to enhance the private sector to flourish and urged foreign investors to take advantage of the situation to invest in Ghana.