Ghana-German Economic Association on the move… Promotes Ghana as business destination

The Ghanaian-German Economic Association (GGEA) has promoted Ghana as a business destination for German, Ghanaian and multinational companies.This came to light at the launch of its second trade fair forum in Accra to offer its members and other private organisations the opportunity to display their products and services on a public platform that reaches the highest level of awareness on a national level and provide the best opportunities for marketing their member companies.The trade fair brought into the country a number of investors, trade partners and private organisations to pull resources together and suggest ideas on how to recruit and match small and medium scale companies to other countries.The association, which is an alliance among Ghanaian, German and multinational companies, also acts as a bilateral chamber of commerce and industry for its members and provides a number of services for members and non-members.Addressing participants at the fair, the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, Dr. Agyemang Manu, noted that the fair would offer a unique opportunity to deepen the relationship and partnership between the private enterprises and donor organisations, which he considered central to their operations.According to him, his ministry had initiated various programmes aimed at providing technological support, quality assurance and research and development to improve enterprise production capacity to enhance their competitiveness, adding that they were committed to supporting the private sector to deepen trade and investment relations with Germany and the rest of the world.The minister emphasised that the German experts had been assisting the Ghana Investments Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF) and the National Board of Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) in preparing business plans, assisting clients in accessing finance, building an MSEs database, providing business development services and assisting to improve the investment environment.“This assistance to private sector organisations like Private Enterprise Foundation, Association of Ghana Industries and private firms had made it possible for them to engage government in active dialogue and consultations to inform policies,” he said.The Managing Director of Hansas Complex Ltd, H. Ntorinkansah, added that the private enterprise was an important partner in our economic development, as it created jobs, wealth, social security, paid taxes and provided market for both finished and unfinished goods.He noted that Ghana had become a nation with tremendous opportunities despite challenges in health delivery, education, water, sanitation, energy, transport and the issue of corruption.He announced that the nation had failed to notice the important role that the private sector played in national development, hence its present situation.He encouraged Ghanaian private enterprises to make it a point to acquire appropriate managerial skills, obtain the needed technical support to increase their productive capacity, and have access to appropriate credits. He added that they should also endeavour to get modern efficient plants and equipment and enhanced market access.The Managing Director prayed for a formidable foundation for development partnership among government, private enterprises and donor organisations to maintain and strengthen the economy of Ghana.