Produce high quality made-in-Ghana goods - Ambassador

Ouagadougou, July 27, GNA - Mr. Mogtari Sahanun, Ghana's Ambassador to Burkina Faso, on Friday called on Ghanaian industrialists and farmers to produce high quality goods that would not only meet local market demand but also be good enough to compete favourably with produce from other parts of the world.

"It is the only way we can encourage the consumption of locally manufactured products and thereby improve private sector development and create jobs for the people", he said.

Mr. Sahanun said this when he opened a one-week exhibition of Made-in- Ghana goods in as part of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence in Burkina Faso. The exhibition was organised by the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Ministry of Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and NEPAD and the Ghana Export Promotion Council.

Products exhibited included, aluminium products, textiles, building materials, pharmaceuticals, plastic products, cocoa beverages, hair products and machinery made by the GRATIS Foundation.

Mr. Sahanun called on the governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso to empower their local industries and strengthen them to compete effectively not just to survive but come out as a significant part of the global business world.

"It is for this reason that I personally see the development of trade promotion between our countries as critical in order to strengthen our position in the global arena", he said.

Mr. Sahanun said one of the problems facing the business community was the difficulty involved in travelling from one country to the other due to cumbersome border procedures and numerous roadblocks and this added to the cost of doing business across borders. Mr. Jean Claude Bikaba, Secretary-General of the Burkina Faso Ministry of Trade and Industry, lauded the smooth trade relations between Ghana and his country and said the removal of transport and border impediments would help enhance the economic relations between the two countries.

He said Ghana and Burkina Faso shared a lot in trade, health, socio-cultural practices and agriculture that was beneficial to both countries and should be encouraged to improve and continue.

Mr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi, President of the Association of Ghana Industries, expressed concern that trade among West African countries was very low as compared to the overall sub-regional trading with Europe and other countries.

He said Ghana's trade within West Africa came up to 11 per cent of its total international trade and the same applied to most countries of the sub-region.

Mr Oteng-Gyasi said AGI had resolved to be more pro-active to challenge and encourage Ghana's industries as well as industries of neighbouring countries to take advantage of the sub regional market. He said the exhibition aimed at further strengthening trade relations between Ghana and Burkina Faso and that the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme was already a success between the two countries,