Ghana-India bilateral trade increases

The India High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Birender Singh Yadav, has stated that bilateral trade between India and Ghana increased from $2.62 billion in 2017 to $3.34 billion in 2018.

According to the High Commissioner, between April and October last year, trade between the two countries amounted to $2.6 billion, with India exporting goods worth $4.75 billion to Ghana and importing goods amounting to $2.15 billion.

“It is worth noting that India is the largest destination for export from Ghana with trade balance heavily in favour of Ghana. India has been among the top five trading partners of Ghana and Ghana continues to be a favoured destination for Indian investors,” he said.

Mr Yadav made the disclosure last Saturday at a reception he hosted at his residence to mark India’s 70th Republic Day celebrations.

According to him, India had been Ghana’s reliable and steady partner in Ghana’s development drive and has over time deepened socio-economic relations between them guided by the principle of South-South Cooperation.

Support to Ghana

Highlighting India’s support to Ghana, Mr Yadav said India had been very supportive to Ghana in terms of building the capacity of its people. He said over 2,300 Ghanaians had undergone professional training and skill development programmes in diverse fields in India.

He said the Indian diaspora in Ghana was vibrant and was playing important roles geared towards cementing the ties between both countries.

The Indian High Commissioner said ties between the two countries were so tight that many Indians had become Ghanaian citizens and adding that India was keen to deepening ties with Ghana in all spheres.

The Minister

For her part, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Cynthia Morrison, said the bond of friendship and cooperation between Ghana and India was getting stronger, and traversed the domains of political, economy, trade, investment and culture.

“I am proud to say that the relations between Ghana and India had been nurtured over the years and today our countries share common positions on many issues of international concern at the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations,” she said.

According to Mrs Morrison, doing business with India had become much easier and had led to deepening of bilateral, investment and trade volumes between the two countries.

She observed that in recent times there had also been a growing desire by Ghanaian and Indian companies to partner for big ticket businesses.

That, the Minister said, had led to the launching of the Ghana-India Trade Advisory Chamber, to work towards enhancing the trade and investment environment and to make it easier to have access to relevant information in both countries.