Dr Senturk Uzan, Turkish Ambassador to Ghana has expressed the readiness of the Turkish government and businesses to invest in the country.

This, he said had come about because Turkish investors see Ghana as a country with a lot of potential, especially in the West African sub region.

Dr Uzan, who was speaking on Thursday during a courtesy call on the management of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Accra, said investors from Turkey had expressed interest in meeting with the president on the possibilities of investing in the country.

He expressed the readiness of Turkey to give more scholarship to students from Ghana to study business management in Turkey. He also called for closer collaboration between the two countries and also explore more investment opportunities, which would be beneficial to both countries.

He noted that last year, trade between the two countries stood at over 500 million dollars and called for the implementation of measures to let trading activities between the two countries to be mutually beneficial. Dr Seth Adjei Baah, President, Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industries, pledged Ghana’s readiness to improve on its exports to Turkey to improve its revenue as far as trading with Turkey was concerned.

He called for the implementation of practical measures, which would ensure that “we stopped importing things we could produce in the country.” “It is sad to note that we import fruits juices when we have a lot of fruits in the country, especially in the Ada area”, he added.

He said Ghana’s ability to reduce the rate of its imports would go a long way to cut down on expenditure, adding that, it was sad that “a country like Ghana with over 50 per cent of the population involved in farming cannot produce enough to feed its citizens and had to import to supplement its food needs.

“In some countries, only about 5 per cent of the population is involved in agriculture, and yet they can produce for the population and even export”, he added. Mr Clement Osei-Amoako, Chairman, Accra Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industries, intimated that Ghana-Turkey relationship had grown tremendously and attributed the growth to the Turk Eximbank loan facility to Ghanaian businesses.

“Although the loan facility is a good venture, it is unfortunate that most of our members have not been able to access the facility due to the condition of getting a guarantee from banks before accessing it”, he added.

He said Ghana’s imports from Turkey in 2009 amounted to over 50 million dollars but that rose sharply to over 200 million dollars in 2012.