Agric minister woos Czech investors

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, is wooing Czech investors to the agricultural sector in Ghana. 

He has told Czech investors that Ghana has some of the best policies for foreign investors and urged them to take advantage of the opportunity to invest in the country’s agricultural sector.

Dr Akoto was addressing a Czech Republic-Ghana agro-food business forum at the ongoing TECHAGRO 2018 exhibition in Brno in the Czech Republic.

The exhibition, which is a specialised agricultural fair, has brought together 732 exhibitors from European countries who are showcasing cutting-edge technology in agriculture and the agricultural value chain.

On display are heavy-to-light-duty agricultural machinery, the latest farming technology and innovations, as well as modern processing methods of farm products.

There are also on display modern storage and preservation methods for foodstuffs and processed food items, animal husbandry, as well as animal products.

Open invitation

Dr Akoto explained that the Ghanaian delegation was in the Czech Republic and particularly at the fair to attract the Czech business community to invest in Ghana’s agricultural sector.

He, consequently, threw an open invitation to the business community in the Czech Republic to consider venturing into partnerships with their Ghanaian counterparts in the various aspects of the agricultural value chain in Ghana.

Policies to protect investors

On the policies in place for foreign investors, Ghana’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Madam Virginia Hesse, told the investors that there were three institutions in place in Ghana to assist investors —  the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the Free Zones Board.

Ghana Embassy

She assured the investors of protection for their investment, adding that they would not regret investing in Ghana because doing so meant investing in the whole of West Africa.

She said the Ghana Embassy in the Czech Republic was ready and prepared to assist any Czech investor who had plans to invest in Ghana.

In a remark, the Czech Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Margita Fuchsova, said the visit by Dr Akoto was significant because he was the second Ghanaian Agriculture Minister to visit the Czech Republic, after the first visit to that country by a Ghanaian Agriculture Minister 55 years ago.

She said Ghana and the Czech Republic had long-standing relations which had opened various opportunities for the two countries to attain their development goals.

Trade

Making a presentation on trade between the two countries, a representative from the Trade and International Corporation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, Ms Tereza Cerna, noted that Ghana was not among the 10 top African countries that traded with the Czech Republic.

She, therefore, stressed the need for the two countries to intensify their trading activities to change the status.