Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 23 June '99

France exports to Ghana are expected to increase this year following improvement in trade relations between the two countries, Mr Noel Bonnefoy, Commercial and Economic Counsellor of the French Embassy in Ghana, said in Kumasi on Tuesday.

He explained that French sales to Ghana during the first quarter of this year amounted to 25 million dollars, an increase of 38 per cent compared to the same period last year.

At the launching of the France Technologies Show, scheduled for Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire from fifth to ninth October this year, Mr Bonnefoy said France's exports to Ghana last year amounted to 84 million dollars and imported 110 million dollars worth of goods from the country.

The imports from Ghana included timber products, fruits and handicraft.

The number of French companies operating in Ghana has increased from 23 in 1993 to 72 to date, he stated.

Mrs. Claude Menard, Secretary-General of the Show, said about 210 French companies are expected to exhibit at the show, the biggest to be held in Africa.

The show would focus on 17 African countries that promote French technologies in industries and other services.

Mr Kojo Yankah, Ashanti Regional Minister, in an address read for him, called on Ghanaian entrepreneurs and industrialists to participate in the show.

He said their participation would enable them to take advantage of the new partnership being developed between the governments of Ghana and France.

The launch was jointly organised by the French Trade Commission and the Kumasi branch of Club Lutece (Ghana-France Chamber of Commerce).