Ghana would participate fully in WTO negotiations

Accra, Nov. 20, GNA - Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiatives, Minister, Mr Alan Kyeremanten on Thursday told captains of industry that Ghana would participate in the full range of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to ensure that the results attained were beneficial to the country.

He said with the worsening terms of trade for the country's primary agricultural products it was only prudent that the country negotiated to ensure better deals for its manufactured products.

This, he said, would reinforce the local industry policy thrust of adding value to its domestic resources for both local and the export market.

Mr Kyeremanten was speaking at the launch of the National Industrial Week and Africa Industrialisation Day Celebration in Accra on the theme: "The Implications of International Trade Negotiations for Ghana's Industrial Development."

The Minister said since the WTO had as its mandate that trade was conducted fairly between partners the country would forge ahead with its plans of full participation by building strategic alliances to defend and change rules that were inimical to the national interest.

He, therefore, stressed the need for technical capacity building for negotiators in understanding the WTO rules and how to take advantage of them.

Mr Kyeremanten said the country's trade policy would continue to focus on how to expand trade with its major trading partners in the United States and the European Union as well as boost intra-regional trade.

This would be achieved through exploiting the fullest opportunities that existed under the Cotonou Agreement and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The country would equally seek to achieve better terms of trade and market access in the African Caribbean and Pacific - European Union (ACP-EU) trade negotiations with the view to minimising the negative effects of adverse terms of trade on Government revenue, local industries and foreign exchange earnings.

Mr Kyeremanten urged countries in the West Africa Sub-Region to work towards integration since it would improve the system of free trade in the region and facilitate ACP-EU negotiations, particularly under the framework of the Economic Partnership Agreement between ECOWAS and the European Union.

He called on the ECOWAS countries to meet their commitments under the Trade Liberalisation Scheme.

Dr Vladmir Antwi Danso, Lecturer at the Legon Centre for International Affairs, urged Ghana to adopt a strategic framework for industrial as well as export development to be able to maximise returns on both comparative and competitive advantage.

In a message to mark African Industrialisation Day, UN Secretary General, Busumuru Kofi Annan asked African countries to diversify from their long-standing trade patterns, which have involved excessive reliance on exports of raw materials and unskilled labour and put premium on higher value-added products.

He pledged the continuous support of the United Nations family and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to help to promote Africa's integration into the global economy through effective industrialisation and market access.

As part of the celebration manual cassava harvesters produced locally through the sponsorship of the UNDP/UNIDO were presented to the Minister of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiatives.