Kobina T. Hammond
Minister of Trade and Industry Kobina T. Hammond, has called on local businesses to meet global trade standards in order to move Ghana to the forefront of the international market.
This, he believes, will give the country a competitive advantage over other goods on the international market, as it makes efforts to scale up the value-addition strategies for its exported raw products.
This statement was contained in the minister’s speech read on his behalf at a forum held in Accra.
He urged regulatory authorities to support businesses by providing them with relevant information and facilitating the growth of their business.
“We want to see regulatory authorities work with businesses to be able to support them with the right information and facilitation to ensure businesses open up,” he said.
“We live in a very rapidly changing world where technical requirements are always coming up and if you are a business and you keep abreast of that you end up having a parallel process of growth that the market does not necessarily absorb,” he said. “Global trade is increasingly integrated into value chains and governed by quality and standards requirements.”
Mr. Hammond disclosed that the government therefore implemented a global quality and standards programme in Ghana to ensure the quality standards of our cocoa, cashew, and palm oil improves to bolster production.
On her part, the Deputy Head of Mission for the Swiss Embassy to Ghana, Dr. Simone Haeberli, pledged that “As we transition into the post-programme phase, we remain committed to providing ongoing support and assistance through the Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Programme and we hope this will culminate in making the Ghanaian SME landscape and the nation’s export potential,” she assured.
By Nafisatu Abdul Razak