Dubai businesses asked to use Ghana as gateway to W/A
The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dubai Chamber, Mr Hamad Buamim, has urged Dubai businesses to use Ghana as a gateway to expand their reach to more than 250 million consumers in the West African sub-region.
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He said, Ghana stood out as a beacon for safe investment in Sub-Saharan Africa because of its strong GDP growth forecast and stable political environment conducive for business.
The CEO made the call when he officially opened the new office of the Dubai Chamber in Accra last Tuesday.
The opening of the office, which is the chamber’s maiden office in West Africa, forms part of ongoing efforts to promote Dubai as an international business hub and strengthen economic and trade ties with Ghana and the rest of the continent.
He said the launch of the office in Ghana was an important development in the expansion of its footprint in Africa and sent a strong signal of its commitment to enhance ties both in Ghana and in the West African region.
“I would like to thank our Ghanaian government and business partners, and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose support and cooperation has enabled us to start a new era in Dubai and Ghana’s relationship,” he said.
He noted that the inauguration of the office was a perpetuation of the Dubai Chamber’s strategy of exploring untapped markets in the world.
“This new office will open up a wave of opportunities for Dubai businesses and their competitiveness to reach out to the West African region while facilitating Ghanaian enterprises to use Dubai as an ideal gateway for Ghanaian exports to the Middle East region, South East Asia and Europe”, he added.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Murtala Mohammed, praised this development and stated that the new office was a manifestation of successful trade and business forums and will help take the two countries’ bilateral relations to a higher level.
He said the opening of the office was a reflection of the commitment of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ghana government’s desire to enhance trade ties.
He added that it was also an indication of the commitments of Dubai and Ghana to enhance trade ties as total non-oil trade between the two partners rose to AED 8.9 billion in 2013.