Ghana not looking for charity - Vice President

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has told the Chinese business community that Ghana is not looking for charity but potential investors whose investments would be beneficial to the two sides.

He said Ghanaian businesses were willing to partner their Chinese counterparts for their mutual benefit.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said this when he opened the Ghana-China Business Forum 2016 in Accra.

The maiden forum, an initiative by the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, is to stimulate, develop and strengthen the business relations between the two countries.

Besides, the forum is to provide a platform for Ghana to present her trade and investment opportunities to the Chinese business community.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur assured the Chinese business community that Ghana still provides the safest and conducive environment for investments in the sub-region.

He said the social and political stability that the nation had enjoyed over the years provided an anchor for economic growth.

He said the economic gains that the nation had made would not have been possible without an impressive track record in democratic governance.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said the social and political stability of the country had allowed investors to invest with the assurance that conditions would remain safe no matter the outcome of elections every four years.

He gave the assurance that the Government would continue to ensure that Ghana stays peaceful, stable, friendly, accommodating and most well governed country in Africa.

He said the aggregate trade between Ghana and China in 2015 stood at 6.6 billion dollars.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said the total investment of China in Ghana that same year was 1.3billion dollars making Ghana the fourth in rank with respect to Chinese investments in Africa.

He said government was particularly interested in attracting investments into the agro-industrial sector where there were considerable opportunities for job creation.

He announced that government had introduced an industrial policy to encourage the growth, diversification, upgrading and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

Ms. Sun Baohong, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, said China was the largest trading nation of Ghana and in 2015 China-Ghana trade volume registered 6.6 billion dollars up 18.2 per cent on year-on-year basis.

She said the value of China’s newly-signed contracts in Ghana reached 1.3 billion dollars, ranked 14th in Africa.

She said since the beginning of the year, economic and trade co-operation between Ghana and China had improved significantly.

Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah, the Minister of Trade and Industry, called on the Chinese investors to set up manufacturing plants in Ghana to take advantage of the large market in the sub-region.

He said Ghana offered an ideal location for their businesses in terms of stability and safe environment.

He noted that currently there are about 500 Chinese companies operating in Ghana with some in the trade and distribution sectors.