President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the government will continue to explore avenues to increase the country’s export capacity to reduce its dependence on imported products.
According to the President, his government has made it as a key strategic objective to expand the country’s exports to help reduce imports, strengthen the local currency, among others.
President Akufo-Addo said this when the outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Shri Birender Yadav, visited him at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday to bid him farewell.
His comment comes in the wake of Ghana’s positive trade balance (more export than import) recorded in 2019.
He was glad to note that India had become Ghana’s largest export destination and commended the outgoing High Commissioner for the role he played to consolidate the cordial relations between the two countries.
The President said Mr Yadav had a successful tour of duty and described his departure as sad news to begin the year with.
Trade volumes between Ghana and India had more than doubled in his time as High Commissioner, the President observed, and thanked him for supporting Ghana’s development efforts.
President Akufo-Addo said he was honoured when the Indian government invited him to be part of the inaugural conference of the International Solar Alliance in 2018 and expressed the government’s commitment to improve the cordial relations between Ghana and India.
Mr Yadav, who has been transferred to Iraq, on his part, said Indian investments in Ghana was growing steadily in all sectors of the Ghanaian economy due to the cordial relations between the two nations.
He said the Indian government had also supported Ghana in areas such as education and energy and had sponsored cultural troops from Ghana to perform in India.
He thanked the government for the support and for making his duty in Ghana a success.
Also at the Jubilee House to bid the President farewell were the envoys from Guinea and Nigeria, Arafan Kabine Kaba, and Olifemi Michael Abikoye respectively.
They both recalled the successes of the relations between Ghana and their respective countries during their tour of duty and thanked the Ghanaian government and people for supporting them.
President Akufo-Addo also thanked them for their contribution to the relations between Ghana and their countries and stressed the need to push the relations further for the benefit of their people.
He said the relations between Ghana and the two West African countries, especially Nigeria, was paramount in pursuing the ECOWAS project.
BY YAW KYEI
