Kufuor woos Brazilian Investors

Brasilia, July 11, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has met with the Brazilian business community to convince them to put their money into Ghana's economy, telling them that enormous opportunities existed for good returns on their investments.

The country, he said did not only enjoy B+ Credit rating as Brazil, it also had an enabling environment with generous concessions such as those in the Free Zone.

Additionally, businesses that relocated into Ghana could take advantage of its United States (US) VISA and African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) Status to export 6,400 duty free and quota free items to the US.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghana's Foreign Minister and the Brazilian Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Ivan Ramalho, were among those present.

Areas they expressed interest in included agriculture; pharmaceuticals; construction; energy and sanitation.

President Kufuor, on a three-day State visit to Brazil, said if that country were seen in one breadth as advanced and in another as a developing were able to understand the rest of Africa, it could provide leadership to bridge the gap between the developed nations and those struggling to overcome poverty.

"We see great potential in our cooperation with you in trade; industrialisation and cultural relations", he said, adding that Ghana was fast becoming the hub in West Africa and with this "any partners we have would gain access to the West African Market, which has a population of about 200 million people".

He said over the past two years trade between the two countries had increased significantly but added that the balance had been in Brazil's favour. President Kufuor did not, however, go into the details.

Mr Ramalho, said his country's foreign trade was expanding and encouraged Brazilian companies and consumers to import more from Ghana to balance the trade.

Brazil, the largest country in South America with a population of about 186 million people has a per capita of 7,600 dollars and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over 1.379 trillion dollars.

Its total exports are put at 73.28 billion dollars with imports standing at about 48.25 billion dollars