Trade Minister advocates for strengthen bonds of cooperation to benefit Ghanaian MSMEs

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond (MP), has called for the strengthening of the bonds of cooperation between the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Government of Ghana.

On an official visit to Geneva, K.T. Hammond applauded the enhanced cooperation between the government of Ghana represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the International Trade Centre which has led to many Ghanaian MSMEs benefiting from capacity building projects under the ITC’s “SheTrades” initiative, implemented by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA).

In discussions with Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the ITC on how to scale up ITC’s existing projects in Ghana, the Minister emphasized the importance government places on trade and industry-related projects and programmes that seek to advance the course of women and enhance their capacity to take advantage of global value chains.

In this regard, the Minister called for a further strengthening of the bonds of cooperation between the ITC and the government of Ghana to deliver opportunities for women-owned and women-led businesses.

The Minister mentioned that in addition to the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), he would be happy if the ITC could scale-up its engagement with the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) which is MSMEs-focused and whose activities are tailored to unleash local capacity for the advancement of entrepreneurs and businesses.

He emphasized that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was keen on stirring up the industrial base of Ghana through programmes such as the 1D1F and the establishment of Industrial Parks and strategic anchor industries.

In her remarks, the Executive Director of ITC, Pamela Coke-Hamilton underscored the importance of providing targeted support to MSMEs with a view to ensuring that they grow their capacity to take advantage of global value chains.

Accordingly, she assured of the ITCs continued support to Ghana and proposed the prioritisation of the concerns of MSMEs at the multilateral level.

The Minister is scheduled to meet the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to advance Ghana’s interests in multilateral trade policy and rule-making.