Minister of Trade woos US investors

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, says Ghana’s record of good governance, political tolerance, fair judicial system and the rule of law are critical ingredients in the decision making process for foreign investors.

Describing the factors as 'soft assets' Dr Spio-Grabrah said in addition, the country’s solid achievements in education, health and religious tolerance are other key considerations.

The Minister made these comments during a presentation in Houston, Texas, USA, to a group of leading business executives.

He distinguished between Ghana’s attractive “hard assets” such as gold, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, diamonds, oil and gas plus agricultural produce, and the above soft assets.

The Trade and Industry Minister’s visit to Houston is part of his strategic investment tour to the United States of America, under the auspices of the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

During the visit, the Trade and Industry Minister delivered keynote address to a business community on investment opportunities in Ghana and also held strategic meetings with some global firms for expanded operations in Ghana on Energy, Power, Aviation Services, Customs, Logistics and Modernization issues.

Addressing business moguls at Bracewell and Giuliani LLP, an international law firm serving Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, leading private investment funds, and government entities with concentrations in the energy, technology and financial services, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah challenged the distinguished participants to take advantage of the conducive investment climate in the country and expand their operations in Ghana.

He told businesses and budding entrepreneurs that Ghana hasn’t deviated from its economic trajectory if they use the “soft assets” as the economic barometer, which include the various global rankings recorded by the World Bank and globally competitive institutions on “Ease of Doing Business”.

He, therefore, urged firms interested in choosing Ghana as its preferred investment destination to make their decisions in that regard. Concluding, the Trade and Industry Minister reiterated his government’s committed efforts and resolve to address the shortfalls in power and infrastructure related issues to promote trade and investment, job creation, descent livelihood and inclusive sustainable development.

The Trade and Industry Minister’s meetings also took him to the offices of Universal Weather and Aviation, M&H (a leading engineering and consulting firm for oil & gas, industrial, manufacturing and petrochemicals); Halliburton (a global oilfield services company); as well as to Houston Airport Systems; and the Port of Houston Authority to learn second stories on sister agreements, MOUs and service models to improve both aviation and marine operations at Ports in Ghana.

It is remarkable to state that these constructive and strategic meetings are expected to bring expanded investments in respect of capital injection and equity into the energy, power, agriculture, manufacturing, industrial, health, education, and financial sectors to accelerate economic growth and sustainable development.

It is also part of the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s policy agenda and strategy to stimulate growth, improve logistics and supply chain through technology and innovation, strengthen the private sector to be globally competitive and above all, create descent jobs to improve the livelihood of all Ghanaians.