Dutch export agency trains Ghanaian exporters

The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Dutch Import Promotion Agency (CBI) in collaboration with the Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) on Tuesday began a series of training workshops to strengthen capacities of management consultants and export advisors.

The workshop to be run in batches over a six-month period would stand the consultants in good stead to advise on enterprise competitiveness and how to export to Europe.

Mr. Samuel Brew, Head of Training at GEPC, told over 25 participants drawn from countries in Africa that good education and relevant training were important for any country’s export development.

“The fact is of all our resources in the export business, the greatest asset is the people. But if people are to be assets for export development they must have skills and competences, good values and a sense of responsibility,” he said.

It is in this connection that GEPC has been enhancing the competitiveness of Ghanaian export firms through institutional capacity building, increasing knowledge and skills of exporters, developing new marketing strategies.

Mr. Christian Planchette, Senior Training Officer, said through its joint programme ITC and CBI aimed to provide local trade support and access of small enterprises to a pool of local certified professionals, who can offer on sustainable basis training and advisory services on how to be competitive and export to Europe.

He said the ITC workshops on enterprise competitiveness are based upon an innovating management model, which allows the consultant to focus on factors, which are at the heart of enterprise competitiveness.

Participants having completed the programme will be awarded an ITC international certification at the basic Associate level or at the Management Development Adviser level, depending on each participants’ actual proficiency with the concepts, methodologies and tools, as demonstrated during the programme.

Source: GNA