Alan lauds increase in bilateral trade at maiden China-Ghana Week

Minister of Trade Alan Kyerematen has highlighted the importance of Ghana-China relations as trade volumes between the countries see an upsurge.

“Bilateral trading volume registered $2.0 billion as at the end of 2019,” Mr Kyerematen noted in a keynote address at a Ghana-China Business Cooperation Forum read on his behalf by Dr John Hawkins-Asiedu, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade.

Mr Kyermaten was of the view that “the success story of Ghana cannot be told without mentioning the enormous contribution and support from the People’s Republic of China”.

He expressed appreciation for the cooperation while listing a myriad of projects and programmes in Ghana with links to China.

With Ghana hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he was hopeful that the Asian giants would take advantage to reach a bigger market.

“AfCFTA will also bring better opportunities to partners outside the continent such as China, who will help build the infrastructure, boost Africa’s manufacturing capacity and usher in a shift from agriculture-based labour, which currently takes 50 per cent of the continent’s labour to industry, which is currently five times more productive in GDP terms yet lacks manpower,” he noted.

The forum was part of the maiden Ghana-China Economic and Cultural Week 2020 which was organised by Duapa Africa in collaboration with the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT Hunan Sub-council) with support from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC),  the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Africa Guangdong Business Association (AGBA), Piron Global Development and others.

It was held under the auspices of the Ghana Embassy in China and the Embassy of China in Ghana.

In his welcome address, CEO/Founder of Duapa Africa, Mr Musa Frimpong, noted that over the past two decades, trade and investment volumes between the nations had seen rapid growth with over $7billion in trade activities.

He pointed out that Ghana was becoming the economic hub of Africa through the African Continental Free Trade secretariat being in Accra, the capital of Ghana; hence a stronger economic partnership was needed.

“Ghana can benefit from Chinese investments, industrial and technological experience whiles China can make Ghana the centre of its economic activities with Africa,” he observed.

He said in the past few years, Duapa Africa activities across China has offered the firm the opportunity to conclude that, China’s rapid development in the last 40 years to become the second-largest economy in the world is not just a miracle but the fruit of good policies, discipline, hard work, investment in human capital, research and development and utilization of local resources.

“And we hope that Ghana will be able to learn from the Chinese example and model it to suit its local situation,” he concluded.

For his part, Chairman of CCPIT Hunan Sub-council and Chairman of CCOIC Hunan Chamber of Commerce,Mr He Jian, acknowledged Ghana as an “important destination for Chinese enterprises”.

He was of the view that country Ghana had unique geographical advantages, convenient transportation conditions, high economic openness and a considerable market capacity.

From January to October in 2020, Hunan’s import and export volume to Ghana reached US$82.49 million, an increase of 11.7% year-on-year. By the end of October 2020, there were three overseas enterprises in Ghana approved by the Ministry of Commerce, China, with a total contract investment of US$ 6.25 million US dollars, mainly involving service industry, construction industry, printing and recording media reproduction industry.

Since 2018, Hunan Province has signed a total of US$187.97 million of foreign contracted projects to Ghana.

He was therefore hopeful of stronger collaborations with the expansion of trade and other services between the two countries.

Other dignitaries who participated in the virtual programme were First Secretary of Economic Affairs, Embassy of Ghana in China, Ms Jewel J.A. Benneh; Economic & Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of China in Ghana, Mr Chai Zhijing; CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Mr Yofi Grant; CEO of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, Dr Afua Asabea Asare, CEO of B &W IPHG mbH & Economic Ambassador of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State,

Mr Stefan Borngen; Vice President of Africa Guangdong Business Association (AGBA), Ms Tracy Huo; CEO of Zonda Tech Ghana Limited, Ms Yang Yang; and COO of TOJOY GROUP, Ms Ellie Deng.