President Mahama woos Turkish investors to Ghana

President Mahama made the call at the opening session of the Ghana-Turkey Trade and Investment Forum in Istanbul  yesterday.

The trade and investment forum, which aimed at facilitating trade and investment between Ghana and Turkey, brought together about 60 Ghanaian businessmen and women, and more than 100 Turkish businesses to network and share ideas.

It was jointly organised by Tuskon, a conglomerate of Turkish businessmen and industrialists established with the aim of helping Turkish companies penetrate new markets, and the Ministry of Economy in collaboration with the Ghana Free Zone Board.

President Mahama said Ghana needed to increase its power generation capacity from the current 2000 megawatts (MW) to 5,000MW in the next four years.

 In view of the country’s abundant sunshine, President Mahama said Ghana would want to undertake projects in the area of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind energy and biomass.

The President said that Ghana offered the most secure and stable business climate needed for the growth of businesses.

He said the nation had a favourable rate of investment returns and skilled human resource.

President Mahama said the government had put in place a strong institutional framework that guaranteed the security of investments.

He mentioned the expansion of the Tema Port to address the current state of congestion there, if Ghana was to be the gateway to Africa.

“The Kotoka International Airport is completely surrounded by the city and we need space to expand. Therefore, a new area has been identified outside Accra to build a new airport and establish a national airline,” the President stated.

He said the country was currently producing 110,000 barrels of oil per day, saying the oil industry was one area Turkish expertise would be welcomed.

President Mahama also made it known to the forum that Ghana produced 80 tons of gold per year, making it the ninth gold producer in the world.

He said the country, however, needed value addition and as such, investment was needed in that regard.

In 2010, he said the African Union declared Turkey as a strategic partner in the wake of the lull economic growth of its traditional partners, following the world economic meltdown.

He said the idea was to forge closer ties with emerging economies like China, Turkey, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

Ghana’s Caretaker Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms. Hanna Tetteh, said for the country to meet its target growth of about eight per cent per annum, it needed substantial investment in infrastructure, especially in the area of electricity generation.

She said due to a resurgence of relations between Ghana and Turkey, trade volumes between the two nations had amounted to $500 million.

Ms Tetteh, who is the Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs, said Ghana and Turkey could do more to enhance their bilateral relations, and lauded Tuskon and the Free Zone Board for organising the forum.

On Tuesday, President Mahama met with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, at the Presidential Palace in Ankara before he co-chaired the bilateral session with his host.

A number of cooperation agreements, which had been under discussion since President Abdullah Gül’s visited Ghana in 2011, were signed after the meetings.

As part of activities lined up for his visit, President Mahama also meet with Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and was later hosted  to a dinner by President Gül .

Information provided by the Presidency says, President Mahama was to visit and lay a wreath on the Atatürk Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. The site is also the final resting place of İsmet İnönü, the second President of Turkey.

Turkey like Ghana, is aggressively looking for new business and trading partners, new opportunities and a greater role on the international stage.

It also has solid democratic credentials like Ghana and President Mahama is looking to enhance relations with one of the world's progressive emerging economies, promote trade relations, and business partnerships.

On Monday, the President inaugurated a new Chancery for the Ghana Mission in Ankara, two years after Turkey also re-opened its mission in Accra.

He also met with the Ankara Chamber of Industry reminding them that Ghana remained the best hub to reach the rest of the African market.

He said Ghana, a peaceful and stable democratic country in Africa, offered immense investment opportunities in infrastructure development, oil and gas, agro-processing, power generation and pharmaceuticals.

“Visit Ghana and see for yourselves the opportunities for investment that are available”, President Mahama stated.