Minister of Trade, Alan Kyerematen, has revealed that government will shield local companies from foreign competition.

“What we will do is to make sure that local industries are protected against unfair competition,” Mr. Kyerematen said at the Second National Policy Summit in Accra on Monday, August 14.

He said there are technical guidelines to define unfair competition and all efforts will be made to ensure that local firms are not at a disadvantage. He expressed worry that, “Many goods are coming into this market that does not conform to our standards which form part of the unfair competition.”

He added that imported goods that are sold below the cost of production in Ghana also constitute unfair competition and government will address all those concerns.

For him, the country will encourage free trade but, “We will make sure that we protect our local companies against unfair trade practices.”

On his part, President Nana Akufo-Addo observed that government is instituting measures to have more exports to the United States (US) under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) to achieve a target of $500million in 2020.

He said, “Ghana’s total non-exports under AGOA for 2016 was $12 million and we aim to increase our export volumes under AGOA to $500million in 2020.”

According to Mr. Akufo-Addo, the AGOA Act was signed into law some 17 years ago and two years after the extension, to another decade. “Ghana has not extensively exploited this opportunity and accordingly not realized any significant gain,” he said.

In view of this, he indicated government is working to ensure measures are implemented for Ghanaians to take full advantage of the US market through the AGOA initiative.

He said government is in the process of finalizing a new AGOA Export Strategy and Export Plan to that effect, to boost the non-traditional exports.

This, he believes, falls in line with government’s initiative to boost the economy and create numerous jobs for Ghanaians.