Ghana is actively exploring opportunities to woo investors and partners to develop and advance made in Ghana products.

In line with this, the Ghana Exports Promotion Authority (GEPA) and Ghanaian exhibitors at the ongoing 84th Izmir International Fair have held meetings with some Turkish potential business partners in the agricultural and transport industries.

These companies are BKS Agricultural Machineries Automotive Industry and Trade Limited Company; a manufacturer of various types of agricultural machines, SepeNatural Organic Products Industry Trading Corporation; producer of bee products and herbal supplements and BMC Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S; one of the biggest manufacturers of vehicles in Turkey.

BKS is a Turkish company which specializes in the manufacture of various types of agricultural machines for Turkish farmers with the European standards and had been in existence since 1998.

Machines produced by BKS include soil preparation machines, cultivators, chisels, tillers, disc harrows, rippers, flat harrows and inter-row cultivators.

Mr. Berk Bardakçioglu, Foreign Trade Manager at BKS said the company did not currently have any operations in West Africa but was open to exploring the opportunities available in Ghana and in the sub-region.

Ghana's team briefed them on the nature of agriculture in Ghana and the types of soils available but urged the company to visit and conduct some research in order to develop products that would suit the soil and the West African terrain in general and Ghana in particular.

The team also visited SepeNatural’s bee farm where it keeps bees for the production of honey and other bee products. Members of the team were briefed on how the company produced its honey with emphasis on ‘no wastage’.

This was a significant visit for the Ghanaian team which included a representative from the honey producers Association of Ghana, the Center for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, and Quin Organics, especially due to Ghana's quest to promote the export of herbal products.

Mr. Kasim Girgin, Founder of the Company, stressed the importance of vision and hard work in building a successful business and expressed the company’s readiness to do business with Ghana.

Mr. Gideon Quarcoo, CEO of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, noted with interest the simple but effective technology that the company used in its production, saying Ghana could learn a lot from collaborating with SepeNatural, while SepeNatural on the other hand could benefit from Ghana's capacity to produce fully organic honey and other plants to feed its factory.

BMC Automotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S is one of Turkey’s biggest vehicle manufacturers founded in 1964 and began operations two years later in 1966.

Using completely local and indigenous designs, the company carries out all of its product designs, development and engineering activities independent of foreign companies.

“Latest products of BMC are well known all over the world as an international brand, which has gained BMC worldwide esteem” stated Mr. Uruk Yilmaz, Manager, Product Planning and Technical Sales, Defence Industry Department.

The Company produces Defence Industry Products including Wheeled Armored Vehicles, Tactical Wheeled Vehicles, Logistics Support and Special Purpose Vehicles, Riot Control Vehicle, Refuelers and Aircraft Refuelers and various types of buses for commercial use.

“The quality of BMC defence industry products are certified with TS EN ISO 9001 : 2000 Quality Management system and NATO : AQAP-2110 Industrial Quality Assurance Level Certificate and has gained the title of ‘Company Manufacturing in NATO Standards” he stated.

Mr. Quarcoo suggested that the Company looked into the production of smaller civilian vehicles and adapts some of its defence style vehicles into civilian cars as was done with the Hummer.

The 84th edition of the fair opened on Friday night, with about 12 Ghanaian companies from various sectors including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and service industries participating. The theme for Ghana’s participation this year is “Showcasing made-in-Ghana plant medicine/food supplement as well as natural ingredients, and attracting investments into their research and commercial production.