Ghana-Turkey Business Forum

Mr Alan Kyeremanten, Minister of Trade and Industry, has urged Turkey business delegations currently on a business tour of the country to partner with Ghanaians to invest in Ghana.

He said Ghana has arrays of investment opportunities in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, oil and gas, petro-chemical, pharmaceutical, industrial starch, textile, wood processing, palm oil and iron and steel industries that they could tap into to do good business in Ghana.

He said government has identified a number of new strategic goal posts such as petro-chemical, industrial salt and iron and steel industries to diversify from cocoa and gold production.

The Minister said government was committed to using oil and gas resources to start petro-chemical industry in the country and urged the delegation to assist government in that direction.

The delegation, led by Ahmet Gulec, Board Member of Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), equivalent to Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), was on a three-day bilateral and trade tour in Ghana to seek possible partnership with the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GNCCI).

Currently, Ghana is Turkey's third biggest trading partner in Africa. Ghana is on course to become the second biggest trading partner of Turkey. In 2015, trade volume between Turkey and Ghana reached 400 million dollars (230 million exports, 170 million imports), which made Ghana Turkey's fourth largest trade partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Kyeremanten noted there was a symbiotic relation between the two countries, adding that 'it is about time we deepen that relationship on more commercial side'.

He said Ghana has one of the best judicial systems in West Africa and it was important for investors to have faith in Ghana's Judicial System.

'When it comes to the stability of the country, Ghana is the preferred destination for every investor. You are also assure of government's commitment to guarantee physical security of your investments in the country,' he said and urged them to feel free to partner with Ghanaian businesses.

Ms Nesrin Bayazit, the Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, said despite the challenges of refugees influx to Turkey since 2010, the country continue to perform extremely well.

She said currently Turkey has the largest number of refugees in the world.

She commended the cordial relationship between the two countries, saying, 'For the last six years there were three Presidential visits from the two countries and this demonstrates strong democracy,' and called on Turkish Businesses to feel free to invest in Ghana.

'Our Presidents set up a new goal and directed us to increase the trade volume to one billion dollars by 2020 and looking at the trade indicators 'We have the opportunity to move one step ahead in meeting the goals,' she added.

Mr Gulec, on his part, said the Turkish Exporters Assembly has 67,000 Exporters who provide jobs for 3.5 million people and hoped that the trade relations between the two would increase after the forum.

He said they also hoped to strengthen their bond with Africa to increase both bilateral and trade relations.

'That's why we have to travel over 7000 kilometers to Accra, Ghana, to take the relations on a higher level,' he added.

He said in 2012, Ghana and Turkey signed a Joint Committee Agreement and their next committee meeting would soon come on in Turkey.

He said at the last Joint Committee meeting, they agreed to increase trade volume from the current 500 million to one billion in the next five years and urged all to work towards achieving the goal.

Mr Edward Benjamin Ashong-Lartey, Director of Investor Services at GIPC, took the delegates through the steps of registering businesses in Ghana, Incentives and Business opportunities.

GNA
By Patience Gbeze, GNA