Ghanaian businesses to participate in China’s largest promotional Fair

By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA

Accra, Aug. 15, GNA – At least 250 indigenous
Ghanaian businesses would have the opportunity to access and showcase their
products and expertise in the Chinese market at the Canton Fair this year.

The Fair, the 124th in the series,
would be held from October 15, to November 4, 2018 in the commercial city of
Guangzhou, China.

The Canton Fair is a trade fair held in the
spring and autumn seasons each year since the spring of 1957 in Canton
(Guangzhou), China. 

It is the oldest, largest, and the most
representative trade fair in China on export trade, though import business.

Also, various types of business activities
such as economic and technical cooperation and exchange, commodity inspection,
insurance, transportation, advertising, and trade consultation are commonly
carried out at the fair.

The Economic and Commercial Section of the
Chinese Embassy in Ghana, in conjunction with the World Trade Centre Accra and
the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) are working to ensure that at least
250 Ghanaian businesses make it to the fair.

In an address read on his behalf at a promotional
launch of the fair at the World Trade Centre in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Joseph
Obeng, the President of GUTA, said the invitation of indigenous Ghanaian
businesses to partake in the fair was a step in the right direction.

According to him, it was an opportunity to
begin an even out of the trade imbalance between Ghana and China that tilted in
favour of China and urged Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of the
opportunity to showcase the potentials of Ghana to the rest of the world.

Mr Kobena Ebo Quaison, the Director in charge
of Export Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said it
was time for Ghana to break across new frontiers in trade and investment as the
ministry was associated with the quest to get Ghanaian businesses partake in
the Canton Fair which would strategically position Ghana on the world’s
business and investment map.

He said governments did not trade or do
business and that it was the private sector that had to take the frontal role
in trade and investment.

According to him Ghana was the seventh largest
trade partner of China in Africa, adding that, Ghana stood much to benefit in a
strategic alliance with China and said government was undertaking all the
needed interventions to create a vibrant environment for private businesses to
thrive.

Ghana, he said, could no longer depend on the
traditional export of gold and cocoa, stressing that there was the need to
exploit other avenues of revenue generation, especially trade and investment
and bemoaned the trade imbalance between Ghana and China emphasising the need
for Ghana to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Chinese
market.

Mrs Jane Reindorf-Attoh, the Managing Director
of the Accra World Trade Centre Accra described the Canton Fair as the largest
trade show in China and one of the largest in the world where hundreds of
merchants sourced goods for their businesses.

She said the WTC Accra was a proactive trade
development organisation that existed to strengthen Ghanaian local businesses
with access to international markets and by building their capacity through a
portfolio of services.

The WTC’s promotion of the Canton Fair, she
said, was in line with its efforts to provide local businesses with access to
import and export opportunities across the globe.

Mr Chai Zhijing, the Head of the Economics and
Commercial Section of the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, said the Canton Fair, also
referred to as the China Import and Export Fair is the largest trade fair with
the largest scale, the broadest distribution of overseas buyers and the
greatest business turnover held in Guangzhou, China.   

He said over 20,000 vendors and about 100,000
buyers would attend the fair which took place twice a year.

He said the Chinese government was prepared to
extend invitations to more Ghanaian businesses to participate in the fair and
that the 250 expected businesses constituted the minimum of Ghanaian businesses
expected at the fair.

GNA

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