The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) has budgeted an amount of $600 million for the implementation of the National Export Development Project (NEDP).
The ministry intends to raise the budget amount from the central government budget, the Export Trade Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF), development partners and the private sector through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
This was disclosed by the Technical Advisor, Export Trade Development for MoTI, Mr Gerald Nyarko, at the commissioning of the steering committee for the National Export Strategy (NES).
The NES was launched in 2013 to diversify Ghana’s exports by increasing the share of Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) in the export base.
The five-year strategy is aimed at lifting the current level of NTEs from US$1.5 billion to US$5 billion within the period.
The implementation of the NES will be by means of the National Export Development Programme (NEDP), with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) being the lead implementing agency.
Mr Nyarko said the NES was a strategic complement to the Private Sector Development Strategy II (PSDS II), which was to enhance private sector competitiveness locally and internationally.
He said the NES would provide export opportunities to drive private sector development as well as serve as a vehicle for harnessing private sector potential.
He said the NES, among other things, would also aim to strengthen and provide resources for export development-related institutions and networks of business development service providers and also ensure that export culture was imbibed nationwide, so that every district would be able to have at least one significant and commercially viable export product success story with which it could be identified.
He said the ministry had selected 11 priority products under the NES and they included; horticulture, yam, apparel, cashew, palm oil, shea, jewelry, handicrafts, cocoa, services and fish.
The Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, inaugurating the committee, urged the members to provide leadership and inspire commitment.
“We must support our stakeholders, particularly the producers, exporters and investors in all possible ways. The NES focuses on removing impediments and reducing risks/costs, while enhancing the capacities of institutions to boost exports,” he explained.
“By virtue of our official roles, we can very much influence and make an impact in realising this focus, and that, perhaps, is my biggest appeal to us today. Let us deliver on this as members of this committee and the NES would be well placed to succeed,” he added.
Mr Spio-Garbrah said the inauguration of the steering committee, therefore, signified that it was time to pursue the full implementation of the NEDP’s objectives and activities.
He said comprehensive work plans had been designed for each of the 11 products/services which had been identified for immediate support under the NES.
“The GEPA as the lead agency for implementation has also had to adapt its work plan and programmes for this year to align with NEDP work plans. This, therefore, means we at least know what steps to take and by who. What is left is to find or provide the needed resources to kick-start the system and keep it going,” he added.