KARACHI: High Commissioner of Ghana Eric Owusu Boateng has advised the business & industrial community of Karachi to look towards Ghana for their investments as his country offers a lot of incentives to potential foreign investors who can set up their manufacturing units in a safe, secure and stable environment.
“The prospects for foreign investors are really good and the return on investment will also be interesting for you in Ghana which is known as Oasis of Peace in West Africa.
The advantages that you could enjoy in Ghana are overwhelming,” he said and stressed the need to jointly identify mutually beneficial areas so that trade, investment and economic relations between the two countries could be further deepened.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), the envoy added that exchanging trade delegations, participation in trade fairs and jointly conducting of programs must also happen so that the people of both countries could know each other.
President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, Senior Vice President Touseef Ahmed, Vice President Haris Agar, Chairman Diplomatic Missions & Embassies Liaison Subcommittee Zia ul Arfeen and KCCI Managing Committee Members attended the meeting.
Highlighting the key sectors wherein the Ghana government was interested in seeking foreign investments, he said that Pakistani investors from pharmaceuticals, textiles, garments, tourism and many others sectors to invest in Ghana where the literacy rate was around 80 percent so a highly literate labour force was readily available which can easily be trained further as per requirements and the minimum wage in Ghana was also the most competitive in the region. “Although the population of Ghana is about 35 million but as it is the member of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ghana is a gateway to ECOWAS market, which was a huge market with a population 316 million and GDP of around US$615 billion,” he added.
He noted that although there were no direct flights between Pakistan and Ghana but even if anyone takes a connecting flight, it would hardly require seven hours to land at Ghana airport which has become the leading airport in West Africa because of government’s objective to actively promote Ghana as an aviation hub of West Africa. “In addition to this, we also have two major sea ports in Ghana.”
He also mentioned that for the past more than 30 years, Ghana has enjoyed a peaceful democratic political climate whereby elections were held after every four years. “It doesn’t matter which political party wins, the transfer of power is done peacefully as there is stability along with rule of law and strict adherence to the same which gives the assurance to private sector to invest in Ghana.
He said that Ghana and Pakistan have been enjoying wonderful political relations for a long time now but in the ongoing era of economic diplomacy, it has becoming important to try and identify ways and means of translating the warm political relations into strong economic relation so that the people of both countries could be benefited. “Focus should not remain confined to Government-to-Government level but we must also look at Government-to-Business and Business-to-Business levels; therefore, the private sector is a very important stakeholder in all efforts to achieve the common goal,” he said, adding that this would only be possible when the private sectors’ of both countries carry out intense activities for deepening relations.
Earlier, President KCCI Mohammed Tariq Yousuf, while warmly welcoming the Envoy, stated that in spite of immense trade potential between Pakistan and Ghana, the volume of trade was too low as Pakistan’s exports to Ghana stood at just around $53 million while the imports from Ghana were $2 million only during July-May 2022-23. “Pakistan’s exports to the African market stood at $1.21 billion in July-May 2022-23 which is stagnant at just 4.7 percent of our total exports so far.”
He was of the view that Pakistan’s Look Africa policy can help accelerate trade and strengthen economic ties between the two countries, which will pave the way for boosting bilateral trade and facilitate Pakistan-Ghana businessmen to explore new markets and diversify geographical Export Base for bilateral Economic Integrations.
President KCCI stressed that Pakistan and Ghana must establish institutional linkages between both sides for collaborative research, constructive dialogue on trade and economic development in addition to boosting business-to-business relationships between the two countries
“As Ghana was a major importer of live animals, fish, meat and dairy products, etc., Pakistan can benefit from this huge market by enhancing its livestock, fisheries and dairy exports. Ghana investors can also capitalize on exciting investment opportunities in Pakistan’s various sectors such as textile, renewables, food security, industrial & sports, tourism and hospitality,” he added.
Tariq Yousuf further opined that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services have sufficient room for development to meet the growing needs of private sector businesses ranging from SMEs, agriculture and fisheries to oil & gas sectors.
He suggested that the Karachi Chamber and Ghana National Chamber of Commerce & Industry can also ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote bilateral trade & businesses, organize trade exhibitions and harness innovation, besides providing a platform for boosting western Africa’s economic potential. “Participation in each other’s trade fairs and exhibitions would be a great way for the business communities of both countries to explore new trade avenues and promote strategies.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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