19th Ghana Int’l Trade Fair opens (Friday, March 6, 2015) pg 39

The 19th Ghana International Trade Fair opened in Accra last Tuesday with a search for strategic investors to turn the ailing Ghana International Trade Fair Centre into a modern expo centre.

The fair, held under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, aimed at facilitating local and international trade, began on February 26 and would end on Mach 8, 2015. 

The annual event, which is under the auspices of the ministry of Trade and Industry, is on the theme: “Trade – The Bridge for Industry and Research.”
 Library photo
The theme seeks to highlight trade and exhibitions as a basis for researching into new grounds that will drive industry towards economic growth.

Among the long chain of items on display at the fair are general goods, including clothing and footwear, cosmetics and electronics.

Others are renewable energy, agriculture and food products, building and construction, industrial, machinery, oil and gas products, petrochemicals, telecommunication, healthcare and safety equipment, furniture, banking and finance and scientific findings.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Board Chairperson of the Ghana Trade Fair Company (GFTC), Mrs Hannah Amoateng, said the company was seeking a “strategic investor or investors to partner it in turning the Trade Fair Centre into a modern expo city to rival any in the world.”

She said as the company delivered its mandate for organising trade fairs and exhibitions and providing an environment for businesses to promote their goods and services, the company faced financial, structural and other operational challenges.
The challenges notwithstanding, she said the company would continue to look for innovative ways of organising fairs and exhibitions to make them more appealing and attractive to patrons. 

Built some five decades ago, the centre, which is in the care of the Ghana Trade Fair Company, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), was meant to be a site to showcase the works of industrialists in the country as part of efforts to promote made-in-Ghana goods as well as serve as a platform for other countries, mostly from the sub-region, to exhibit their products and services and promote the sub-regional integration agenda.

But years of underinvestment and neglect has left facilities at the centre in a sorry state. 

Patronise made-in-Ghana goods
But the Deputy Minister of MoTI, Mr Murtala Mohammed Ibrahim, who opened the fair, said the trade fair centre had a lot of potential and could easily become a global showpiece when an investor comes on board. 

He said the government was aware of the debilitating effect the energy crisis had on businesses and would therefore do everything possible to find a lasting solution to the crisis instead of managing it.

He urged Ghanaians to patronise made-in-Ghana goods as it was a key for providing jobs and also reducing the perennial cedi and dollar exchange rate that did not favour the economy. 
Participating countries 

Although this year’s event has seen a drop in the number of foreign exhibitors because of the Ebola scourge, there are participants from China, Turkey, Spain, Italy, India, Syria, Pakistan, South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

In a speech read on his behalf, the acting Chief Executive of the GTFC, Dr Erasmus Ebenezer Okpoti Koney, said apart from the Ebola scare, the country’s energy crisis was also a contributor to the low patronage by both local participants and those within the ECOWAS sub-region.

Dwelling on the theme for the event, he appealed to captains of industry, academia and researchers to exchange and share ideas on their experiences and on their research results, which would boost economic growth. 
The 19th Ghana International Trade Fair opened in Accra last Tuesday with a search for strategic investors to turn the ailing Ghana International Trade Fair Centre into a modern expo centre.
The fair, held under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, aimed at facilitating local and international trade, began on February 26 and would end on Mach 8, 2015.
The annual event, which is under the auspices of the ministry of Trade and Industry, is on the theme: “Trade – The Bridge for Industry and Research.”
The theme seeks to highlight trade and exhibitions as a basis for researching into new grounds that will drive industry towards economic growth.
Among the long chain of items on display at the fair are general goods, including clothing and footwear, cosmetics and electronics.
Others are renewable energy, agriculture and food products, building and construction, industrial, machinery, oil and gas products, petrochemicals, telecommunication, healthcare and safety equipment, furniture, banking and finance and scientific findings.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Board Chairperson of the Ghana Trade Fair Company (GFTC), Mrs Hannah Amoateng, said the company was seeking a “strategic investor or investors to partner it in turning the Trade Fair Centre into a modern expo city to rival any in the world.”
She said as the company delivered its mandate for organising trade fairs and exhibitions and providing an environment for businesses to promote their goods and services, the company faced financial, structural and other operational challenges.
The challenges notwithstanding, she said the company would continue to look for innovative ways of organising fairs and exhibitions to make them more appealing and attractive to patrons.
Built some five decades ago, the centre, which is in the care of the Ghana Trade Fair Company, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), was meant to be a site to showcase the works of industrialists in the country as part of efforts to promote made-in-Ghana goods as well as serve as a platform for other countries, mostly from the sub-region, to exhibit their products and services and promote the sub-regional integration agenda.
But years of underinvestment and neglect has left facilities at the centre in a sorry state.

Patronise made-in-Ghana goods

But the Deputy Minister of MoTI, Mr Murtala Mohammed Ibrahim, who opened the fair, said the trade fair centre had a lot of potential and could easily become a global showpiece when an investor comes on board.
He said the government was aware of the debilitating effect the energy crisis had on businesses and would therefore do everything possible to find a lasting solution to the crisis instead of managing it.
He urged Ghanaians to patronise made-in-Ghana goods as it was a key for providing jobs and also reducing the perennial cedi and dollar exchange rate that did not favour the economy.

Participating countries 

Although this year’s event has seen a drop in the number of foreign exhibitors because of the Ebola scourge, there are participants from China, Turkey, Spain, Italy, India, Syria, Pakistan, South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
In a speech read on his behalf, the acting Chief Executive of the GTFC, Dr Erasmus Ebenezer Okpoti Koney, said apart from the Ebola scare, the country’s energy crisis was also a contributor to the low patronage by both local participants and those within the ECOWAS sub-region.
Dwelling on the theme for the event, he appealed to captains of industry, academia and researchers to exchange and share ideas on their experiences and on their research results, which would boost economic growth. 
- See more at: http://graphic.com.gh/business/business-news/39604-19th-ghana-int-l-trade-fair-opens.html#sthash.ttRzgPAw.dpuf

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