Efforts to promote trade and investment between Ghana and Japan have received a boost with the launch of the Ghana-Japan Business Promotion Committee (GJBPC).
The GJBPC, a high-level partnership mechanism aimed at facilitating mutual investment, trade and business interests between the two countries would also promote Ghana as entry point into Africa and investment hub to Japanese companies.
The five-member committee has representations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Business Development, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Embassy of Japan in Ghana.
Among other objectives, the committee which will serve as a vehicle between the two countries would promote and support Japanese businesses in Ghana and Ghanaian businesses in Japan and facilitate trade and investment between Ghana and Japan.
The launch of the committee was witnessed by representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan External Trade Organisation and Japan Ministry of Economy.
Speaking at the launch, the Chief Executive Officer of GIPC, Yoofi Grant said Ghana was repositioning itself to be the best hub for trade and investment destination in Africa.
He said government had worked hard in the past three years to put the economy on the path of stability and growth, with inflation declining to 7.6 in September this year from 16 per cent in 2016 and fiscal deficit from 9 per cent in 2016 to 4.5 percent in 2019.
Mr Grant said Ghana was endowed with a lot of natural resources investors could take advantage of to diversify their investment portfolios.
He said Ghana and Japan already were enjoying strong trade and investment ties and the formation of the committee would further strengthen the business relationship between the two countries.
He said the formation of the committee, which was long overdue, was to develop an agenda to further boost the trade and investment relationship between the two countries.
Mr Grant said forming a strong trade and investment relation with Japan would help Ghana to tap into Japan’s technology to develop the country.
The CEO observed that the Committee would help Ghana to raise financial resources from Japan to finance government’s infrastructural and developmental projects.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Tsutomu Himeno in his remarks said his government was committed to attracting Japanese companies and investors to Ghana to contribute to the development of the country
He said the proposal for the formation of the GJBPC was mooted by Japanese business community.
Mr Himeno said the committee was being formed in seven African countries and Ghana is the first country the committee had been formed.
He expressed the hope that Ghana would attract a lot of investment from Japan to Ghana after the formation of the committee.
Kennedy Aryeetey Tetteh | thebftonline.com | Ghana
