Slovenian businesses seek partnership with local companies
A number of Slovenian companies have expressed interest in partnering with their Ghanaian counterparts with the hope that such partnerships will serve as a stepping stone for them to gain foothold in the West African sub-region.
So far, six of the companies from Slovenia have shown interest and have subsequently visited Ghana to initiate discussions with their Ghanaian counterparts.
Some of the areas they intend to invest in are agriculture, education, construction, technology, sanitation, pharmaceutical and the manufacturing sectors.
The Deputy Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Mr Dobran Bozic, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of a Ghana-Slovenia Business Summit by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) on November 27 in Accra.
The summit followed an earlier one organised this year in Slovenia for a Ghanaian delegation made up of players in the private and public sectors of the economy.
As a result of Ghana’s participation in the event, Mr Bozic said a delegation made up of businesses from Slovenia had made a reciprocal visit to Ghana in order to deepen the partnership.
He said the purpose of the visit was to generate a mutual collaboration, explore investment opportunities and discuss ways of assisting Ghanaian firms with the latest trends and technologies.
Aggressive agenda
The Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Mr Felix Nyarko-Pong, who represented his sector minister, stated that the government was on an aggressive agenda to transform the country's economy.
Taking them through the plans of the government to shift the economy from commodity-based to industrialisation, the advisor called on the delegation to partner the government in some of the projects.
He pointed out some of the numerous opportunities that the Slovenian investors could explore in the government’s 10-point agenda for transformation.
“We just launched a very ambitious transformational agenda for the country and there are some areas which I believe will interest you,” he stated.
The 10-point agenda for industrial transformation included industrial revitalisation programme (Stimulus Package), one-district, one-factory, strategic anchor industries and business regulatory reforms.
The rest are industrial sub-contracting exchange, industrial parks, development of SMEs, export diversification, enhancing domestic retail infrastructure and public-private sector dialogue.
Ghana open for business
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GEPA, Ms Afua Asabea Asare, said Ghana was opened for investment and partnerships, hence the country’s decision to continually participate in international fairs.
He stated that the authority was hopeful that the summit would end with some Ghanaian companies closing deals with their Slovenian counterparts.
“The business meetings are about to start but hopefully we are optimistic that we will be able to close some deals before the end of the summit,” he said.
Beyond the summit, the CEO added that GEPA would not relent on its quest to improve trade between Ghana and its neighbours within the West African sub-region.
Chamber partnership
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mr Mark Badu-Aboagye, said the chamber would partner with relevant stakeholders to help improve trade between the two countries.
He added that the chamber planned to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce in order to encourage trade among their members.
A Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Mr Ante Milevoj, said Slovenia was committed to its sub-Saharan partners through concrete actions.