EU to help Ghana attain middle-income status

The European Union (EU) has pledged its support to Ghana to enable the country to move up to a sustained middle-income country from its current lower middle-income country.

The Head of EU Delegation to Ghana, Ambassador Claude Maerten, made the pledge in Accra at the opening of the GEREU 2012, an annual industrial fair organised by the Ghanaian-German Economic Association (GGEA) for businesses within and outside the country.

Indigenous businesses, especially those with German roots, are scheduled to exhibit at the three-day event.

Ambassador Maerten said the country’s current status required that it developed the industrial sector, since it was the engine of growth.

“The EU is still committed to Ghana and as development partners, we can, together with Ghana, do more; and this is one of the subjects we have to deal with today,” he said.

He observed that Ghana was an entry point to the West African market with a good investment environment and thus called on indigenous businesses to position themselves well to lure other businesses from the sub-region and the world at large into the economy.

The acting German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Thomas Wimmer, lauded the existing bilateral trade between Ghana and his country, a partnership he said had grown at more than 17 per cent within the past few years.

Ghana, he said, had been very attractive for German businesses owing to its richness in commodities, a growing and well- educated middle class and a market-friendly business environment.

“Ghana is one of the truly stable, peaceful and democratic countries in the region and offers a comfortingly different environment and this is what brings German businesses to the region,” he stated.

He also lauded efforts by the government to develop the private sector by establishing a Private Sector Advisory Council.

The President of the GGEA, Mr Stephen Antwi, said GEREU was a catalyst for businesses to expand their investments in Ghana, Germany or other European Union countries.

About 70 companies are exhibiting industrial products and technology, including automotive parts and automobiles, financial services, water, sanitation and environment technologies, pharmaceuticals, oil, gas and mining, logistics and information and communications technology.

Other areas are telecommunications, building and construction, printing, plant installation and chemicals.

Source: Daily Graphic

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