By Francis Ntow, GNA
Accra, June 9, GNA – The City of Philadelphia is pursuing a strategic partnership with players in the Ghanaian logistics sector to boost international trade, supply chain networks, and agro-processing.
The push focuses on leveraging Philadelphia’s port infrastructure to streamline exports and connect West African markets to the United States of America, through Philadelphia on the East Coast.
Officials of the City of Philadelphia proposed the strategic partnership during the maiden edition of the US-Ghana Business Roundtable on Logistics held last week in Accra under the auspices of the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Bethel Logistics Company Limited (BethLOG).
Karen Fegely, the Acting Commerce Director for the City of Philadelphia, leading the Department of Commerce to oversee business growth, economic development initiatives, and support services, led the team from the US, which included private sector players and business owners from Pennsylvania.
She highlighted Philadelphia’s commitment to fostering inclusive trade and neighbourhood economic development, saying: “The Port of Philadelphia (PhilaPort) is seeking to expand its maritime logistics by establishing direct supply chain linkages with Ghana.”
The PhilaPort is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of port facilities along the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, as well as strategic planning throughout the port district.
“We are convinced the roundtable would kickstart a great collaboration to increase international trade between Ghana and the United States, using PhilaPort, which has several comparative advantages over other US ports,” she said.
Florence Porson-Hart, the President of the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, outlined Ghana’s commitment to building a vibrant, inclusive, and investor-friendly economy, noting that reforms aimed at strengthening private sector participation and attracting sustainable investment.
She indicated that the US-Ghana Chamber would continue to strengthen economic ties between the United States and Ghana through facilitating investment, trade, and strategic partnerships across key growth sectors.
Dr Kofi Annor-Adu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bethel Logistics Company Limited, indicated that the forum was to share key insights on the Ghanaian logistics sector with the team from US and get a deeper understanding of the operations of their sector.
He said it was to also explore creative and innovative solutions to some of the challenges in Ghana and ways of collaborating effectively with their counterparts in Pennsylvania and across US to transform fragmented supply chains.
That, Mr Annor-Adu said, was to synchronise the supply chains, build agile networks, pool resources, align goals, reduce costly inefficiencies, accelerate delivery times, and open the door to true end-to-end innovation.
He expressed appreciation to the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce for collaborating with Bethel Logistics to host the event, and commended the members of the US delegation for their participation and the Ghanaian industry players for making the event a success.
The event ended with a visit to the Port of Tema, Ghana’s largest and most vital port, coordinated by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Francis Ntow
[email protected]
