Ghana showcases products in Liberia

OVER 40 Ghanaian companies with a wide range of products are exhibiting their wares at a fair exclusively organised for Ghanaian products in Monrovia, Liberia.

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), in collaboration with the Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI) and the Ghana Embassy in Liberia, organised the solo-exhibition, which is on the theme: “Deepening Ghana-Liberia Relations through Trade.”

The one-week exhibition which will end on October 31, 2012 is to enable manufacturers and artists from Ghana showcase a variety of products, including pharmaceuticals, household disinfectants, detergents, herbal products, shea butter, soaps, textiles and garments, woodcraft, straw baskets and beaded items to the market in Liberia.

Other products are footwear, cosmetics, hair products, plastic packaging, lubricating oils, animal health products, aluminiums cook wear as well as roofing sheets.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the GEPA, Mr Stephen Normeshie, said the exhibition was a follow-up to a series of Ghana trade and investment missions that had been held in Monrovia in the recent past.

He said Ghana considered Liberia a strategic trading partner with whom not much had been achieved so far. As a result, Mr Normeshie said it was GEPA’s desire to intensify trade between the two countries as well as other ECOWAS member states.

The exhibition also seeks to increase trade relations between the two countries and offer businesses, particularly the small and medium scale enterprises, the opportunity to strike inter-country partnerships for growth.

“Ghana is interested in the stability and economic growth of Liberia. We believe that events such as this exhibition will enable the private sectors of our two countries to get closer. It is also intended to showcase the products and services that Ghana has to offer Liberia to cement our bilateral trade,” the acting GEPA chief executive said.

Mr Normeshie emphasised that Ghanaian enterprises were currently not in Liberia to compete with those in Liberia but to seek partnerships and joint ventures that will draw the two countries together.

Ghana’s Ambassador to Liberia, Mr Kenneth Asare Bosompem, said the global economic crisis and its effects such as the decline in remittances and aid had necessitated the sub-region to come up with initiatives for its economic growth.

He said there was the need to integrate economies to be able to minimise the negative impacts.

“Although a number of countries in the region are emerging out of conflict, these are characterised by unbroken peace and stability. It is, therefore, incumbent on us to collaborate effectively to ensure that this exhibition is a modest step in this direction,” Mr Bosompem stated.

The Vice President of the AGI, Mr Samuel Agyapong Appenteng, called on governments in the sub-region to give the private sector the necessary support by addressing the challenges facing them and creating an environment conducive for businesses to thrive and expand beyond borders.

“The number of road blocks, the uncooperative attitude of some custom officials, and corruption at our border posts, among others, are the problems facing the development of West African trade,” he added.