Businesses, govt agencies urged to leverage international opportunities

Businesses and agencies working under the government, particularly those in the area of trade, must work to leverage opportunities aimed at finding new partners and fostering collaborations to augment their operations, the President of the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia, Florence Torsonhart, has said.

She told the Graphic Business in an interview ahead of the 2nd US-Ghana Business Summit and Expo scheduled for Tuesday, September 12 to Sunday, September 17, in Philadelphia, United States of America, that “she leads these partnerships to explore new markets or expand existing ones; new investment and capital infusion and skills development/transfers that are necessary for scaling up businesses on both sides.”

The event, an initiative of the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia, which is modelled around concepts such as the World Affairs Council, African Caribbean Business Council and World Trade Centre of Delaware, is meant to, among other things, help to deepen discussion and relationship with critical institutions that facilitate international business development and cooperation. 

Insights

Giving some insights into last year’s event, the chamber president said one of the key takeaways from last year’s event - which was led by former Minister of Trade and IndustryAlan Kyerematen, among other things, was to have continuing and consistent dialogue that deepens each time.

According to Ms Torson-Hart, deepening and expanding relationships lead to better outcomes on an intermediate to long-term basis.

“For example, the Office of International Business Development has resources to support PA businesses looking to expand internationally and vice versa.

Considering that these resources are not infinite choices and priorities have to be set, a good understanding of the opportunities on both sides is helpful on the policy level.

Governmental agencies are the implementation arms of governmental pouches and are critical to the development of strategic execution plans.”

Benefits to business

Ms Torson-Hart said that businesses in Ghana are partnered and matched on a one-on-one basis to US companies by the US Commercial Services.

These partnerships lead to exploring market expansion, new investment and capital infusion and skills development/transfers that are necessary for scaling up businesses on both sides.

She added that companies that attend and do not receive a match will have opportunities to pitch their products and businesses to potential partners.

“So far, about 40 Ghanaian companies have registered with more registrations every day.

In the US, in addition to the World Trade Centers of Delaware and Philadelphia, more Chambers of Commerce have expressed interest and have come onboard.” 

Ms Torson-Hart said for Ghana, the chamber was still finalising the governmental roster, adding that “any qualified business, that is, a business that is not a startup but is looking for expansion and partnering opportunities, should consider attending the conference which is on the theme “Ghana.

Gateway to Africa”She said the chamber is also finalising the execution of pipeline deals and identifying new opportunities.