Mr. John Ruediger – German Ambassador to Ghana
Rudiger John, Germany Ambassador to Ghana, has called on German companies to seize the opportunity during the Agrofood West Africa, Plastprintpack West Africa trade fair in order to support the nascent Ghanaian food and agro-processing industry with state-of-the-art technology, machinery and expertise.
He said this at the just-ended 2nd International Trade Show on Agriculture, Food and Food Technology and Plastprintpack West Africa in Accra.
Mr. John noted that for more than a decade the development of the Ghanaian agricultural sector has been key to deepening German-Ghanaian development cooperation.
“A fruitful bilateral cooperation between private actors of the agricultural sector will adequately complement these efforts aimed at development of the country’s commercial agriculture,” he said.
Mr. John said Germany is in sync with government focus on making local agro- and food-processing the main priority of governance, as it is facilitates economic development.
“A flourishing agro-processing industry creates employment in the formal sector and increases export revenues tremendously,” he said.
Mr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Trade and Industry, said the country’s current agricultural policy framework and national development plan emphasise the importance of moving from a subsistence-based smallholder system to a sector characterised by commercial market-driven enterprises that are engaged in agricultural production, agro-processing and other activities along the value chain.
He said in pursuance of this objective, government is in close collaboration with the World Bank and USAID in supporting agricultural development projects through the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP), which principally focuses on improving the investment climate for agri-business and developing inclusive Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs) and smallholder linkages aimed at increasing productivity and value addition.
“The Agrofood & Plastprintpack West Africa trade show, which signifies a two-trail-blazing exhibition, comes as an excellent double-headed approach to bring value addition and safety — particularly at a time packaging technology is undergoing rapid development driven by the increasing quest for food safety, transportability and aesthetic appeal,” Mr. Garbrah said.
Mr. Patrick Martens, Delegate of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana, said major investments have been made by foreign firms as well as domestic companies in the food processing and beverage industry over the last couple of years.
“Ghanaian companies such as Kasapreko or Blue Skies have invested in foreign processing technology, thus enabling them to expand their businesses and start establishing large domestic production chains in the food sector,” Mr. Martens said.
Over 1,326 professional visitors from 37 countries discussed business with 81 exhibitors from 21 countries.
Source: B&FT
