Ghana, JETRO sign MoU

The Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), the institution charged with consolidating Japan's efforts in export and investment promotion, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Ghana to set up an office in Ghana.

With Ghana playing host to the largest number of Japanese businesses in West Africa, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JETRO, Mr Nobuhiko Sasaki, explained that the establishment of the office “will surely lead to the further promotion of Japanese businesses in Ghana”.

The agreement was reached last Thursday on the sidelines of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7), with Mr Sasaki signing on behalf of JETRO, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, signed for Ghana.

“We would like to launch the office some time in March next year to enable us to build on the number of Japanese businesses operating in Ghana,” Mr Sasaki said.

Significance

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who witnessed the signing, expressed his delight at the MoU, which he said would further deepen relations between the two countries.

“We are very interested in deepening economic relations between Ghana and Japan, and to that extent we have spent the last two years trying to improve the fundamentals of the Ghanaian economy, so that we will be in a better position to attract investments and interests, including from Japanese companies,” he said.

Ghana’s macroeconomic indices, according to the President, “are in a better position than they were two years ago when I took over. I think that, right now, things are looking very positive for the future of Ghana’s economy. To have an organisation like yours coming to Accra and opening up the possibility of wide access to Japanese business is very encouraging”.

He applauded JETRO for the support it had extended to shea nut businesses in northern Ghana.

“They have also received the benefit of packaging advice and it is an aspect of business in Ghana that we are very keen on encouraging. We have great expectations that the establishment of the office in Ghana is going to give us more and more access to Japanese support,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo also expressed gratitude for JETRO’s support to Ghanaian businesses which enabled them to participate in a trade fair held in Japan in March this year.