Turkey considering establishment of logistics centres in Ghana - Ambassador

The Turkish government is considering the establishment of a bilateral chamber of commerce in Ghana to facilitate sustainable trade between the two countries.

The Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, Özlem Gülsün Ergün Ulueren, who announced this, said Ghana was one of the major trade partners of Turkey in the Sub-region and the move would further strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

She was speaking during a virtual conference dubbed, Turkey-Ghana Interconnected Business for captains of industries of the two countries.

It was put together by NIM Global, a Ghanaian business promotion firm in collaboration with the Foreign Economic Relation Board of Turkey (DEIK) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).

The Participants included Mr Nail Olpak, President of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK), Mr Turan Koçyigit, the Chairman of Turkey-Ghana Business Council, Madam Ergun, Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi, President of AGI and Mr Inuwa Musah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nim Global.

Others were Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah, the Chief Executive Officer of AGI, Mr Tsonam Cleanse Akpeloo, Greater Accra Regional Chairman of AGI as well as Mr Joseph Ntsiful and Mohammed Nurudeen Ali, both from NIM Global.

The Turkish ambassador said Ghana had been an important partner of Turkey over the last decade with Turkish businesses contributing to Ghana’s development efforts in the areas of energy, construction, agriculture, among others.

"....the current $500 million trade volume is not enough and does not reflect the potential of the two countries, and with this understanding, we're working for the establishment of a bilateral chamber of commerce and considering the establishment of logistics centres in Ghana."

“I want to thank the organizers of this event. We need to start to discuss how our entrepreneurs and investors could collaborate for the mutual benefit of both countries in the coming years,” she said.

Nail Olpak, the President of the Foreign Economic Relation Board of Turkey, stressed that, as businesses continue to suffer the devastating effect of COVID-19 globally, the Turkish government was ready to collaborate with Ghana to improve its trade volumes.

Mr Turan Koçyigit, Chairman of DEIK Turkey-Ghana Business Council, underlined the need for both countries to adopt strategic partnership to harness the existing potentials in the two countries to grow businesses in the face of the COVID-19 challenges.

He said his office was committed to implementing some business strategies for specific sectors of the Ghanaian economy to increase the trade volume between Ghana and Turkey and called for close collaboration from all stakeholders.

Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi, President of the AGI, said the Association was ready to collaborate with Turkey to insulate their businesses from the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said a visit to Turkey last year by the AGI exposed them to several areas where they could collaborate with their Turkish partners.

He said the visit led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore business opportunities in both countries.

Mr Inuwa Musah, the CEO of NIM Global, stressed the need for both countries to trade amid the COVID-19 by adopting technology and innovative means to navigate the new business environment.