Ghana International Trade Fair underway in Tamale
The 24th Ghana International Trade Fair is underway at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, with a call on exhibitors to take advantage of the large mix of policy makers, buyers and sellers at the fair to move their businesses to the next level.
The 11-day fair which started last Thursday and expected to end on Sunday, March 8, this year, is to promote value added products and also connect local industries to international partners. It is on the theme "Value Addition, Trading Globally".
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Exhibitors/Organisers
About 600 exhibitors from Ghana, and abroad are participating in the fair to market their wares, dialogue, exchange ideas and network.
The fair which has brought together investors, buyers and stakeholders is also to promote the agenda of getting Ghanaians to patronise made in Ghana products.
The Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited (GTFC) is organising the fair in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI).
Transformation agenda
Speaking at the opening ceremony last Saturday, the Minister of State for Agriculture at the Presidency, Dr Nurah Gyeile, said the theme for the fair was in line with the government’s agenda to transform the agricultural sector for economic growth and high incomes for farmers and other value chain actors such as agro-processing and agribusinesses.
He noted that the need to add value to products was a priority to sustain productivity and growth in the sector.
Dr Gyeile said increasing farmers’ access to markets was a top priority for the government, and for that matter it would continue to work to increase access of producers to the local and the international markets.
That, the minister said, would encourage producers to invest in their own businesses and increase the quantity, quality and diversify the goods they produced.
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Way forward
Dr Gyeile added that the theme for this year's international trade fair was relevant for defining the way forward in the country's agricultural development planning.
Value addition
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Saeed, reiterated the need to add value to the country's produce for high returns on the international market.
A representative of the trade ministry, Mr Ntim Donkor, said the fair was in the right direction since it sought to add further impetus to the government's transformation agenda and the value addition initiative.
The Chief Executive Officer of the GTFC, Dr Agnes Adu, said the trade and fair exhibition was to expose investors and potential ones to the opportunities that abounded in the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors to boost the economic transformation agenda.