Ghana to establish trade centre in Equatorial Guinea

From: Andy Fosu, GNA Special Correspondent, Malabo

Malabo, Nov. 24, GNA - Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) is to establish a Ghana Trade Centre in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to facilitate daily trade in Made-in-Ghana goods, Dr Kwadwo Owusu Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer of GEPC disclosed to journalists on Wednesday. Speaking at the on-going Solo Exhibition of Made-in-Ghana goods at Malabo, Dr Agyemang said Ghana needed to harness the economic potential of the non-traditional export sector to augment government's efforts to increase revenue generation.

The third Solo Exhibition is being jointly organised by GEPC and Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with Bioko Commerce, Agriculture and Forestry.

On the third of the 10-day exhibition, products such as the replica jersey of Black Star's striker Asamoah Gyan, MD2 specie of pineapples, cocoa spread, chocho cream, Bonita Malt and Milk biscuit, and Nkulenu's canned palm fruit base are in high demand. He said in 2009, Ghana earned more than 1.2 billion dollars in non-traditional export, representing more than 26 per cent of total export revenue generated in the country.

"Anything that will give you a quarter of your earnings must be given special attention," he said, adding that non-traditional export was the way forward to social economic development. Dr Agyemang appealed to government to place GEPC directly under the Office of the President, under the same status as Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC).

Mr Maxwell K. Aboagye, Principal Sales Officer of Cocoa Processing Company Limited described the country as a land endowed with natural resources and high quality human resource and capital base stressing that Ghanaian entrepreneurs could explore the business prospects. However, he cautioned that with the discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities, government must not neglect the agricultural sector because it held economic prospects to the citizenry. Some exhibitors told Ghana News Agency that they were negotiating with some promising business partners and prospective investors. 24 Nov. 10