Ghanaians asked to embark on massive export drive

Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Regional Co-operation and NEPAD, on Monday said the best way for the country to achieve its development target was to embark on a massive export drive to earn more foreign exchange.

He said the country had not developed a culture of export in order to achieve its development objectives and stressed the need for a changed in the trend to enable people to engage in export activities.

Dr Apraku said these when he opened a two-day seminar on African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for small-scale entrepreneurs in the Central Region, under the theme "Taking Advantage of AGOA initiative," at Cape Coast.

The seminar, organised by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the AGOA secretariat, sought to sensitise participants on the benefits of the AGOA initiative.

Under the AGOA, about 6400 products from eligible African countries including Ghana could be exported to the U.S. market on duty-free and quota-free.

The minister said while there were tremendous advantages for the AGOA initiative, a lot of internal challenges faced the country.

Dr Apraku said the country exported 50 million US dollars worth of goods to the US last year under the AGOA initiative and a new target of 62.5 million dollars had been set this year by the ministry.

He urged entrepreneurs and manufacturers to register with the AGOA secretariat and to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that the initiative offered.

Dr Apraku said 113 billion cedis had been disbursed to entrepreneurs under the Export development Fund (EDIF) to enable them to expand their businesses.

In a speech read for him, the Central Regional Minister, Mr. Isaac Edumadze, said the international market was a competitive field that had no room for shoddy products.

"We must, therefore, brace ourselves for a keen competition whose long-term effects would be of much benefit to our economy," he said.