Ghana hosted the 13th edition of the World Trade Promotion Organization Conference (WTPO) in Accra on the theme “Bold solutions for resilience and recovery” from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event which was jointly organized by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) was attended by all 57 Trade Promotion Organizations member countries.
With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a guide, the event will outline and celebrate how trade and investment organizations address business survival and competitiveness, and support trade-led growth, while serving their communities and protecting the planet.
Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, encouraged MSMEs to take advantage of innovative initiatives provided by Trade Promotion Organisations such as GEPA, to scale up the capacity of exporters – especially during a period of adversity when it was increasingly difficult for individual businesses to record gains.
Pamela Coke Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), noted that the time had come for TPOs to increase their efforts in supporting businesses as they recovered from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing the conference, Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, lauded efforts of smaller businesses supported by Trade Promotion Organizations, who innovated in times of adversity to remain relevant and kept the global economy in motion and pledged his Ministry’s support in ensuring that Ghana’s industrialization agenda had relevance.
Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, said the future of Africa’s economic recovery is in the hands of small and medium enterprises.
The occasion witnessed the signing of an MOU that seeks to formalize the working relations between both the AfCFTA Secretariat and the ITC to support the empowerment of the private sector to help particularly MSMEs, women and youth entrepreneurs improve their export competitiveness and access new business opportunities offered by the agreement.
