Mr. Alfred Gogu Saame, Charge d’Affaires of Ghana Embassy in China, with the media delegation and officials of the Ghana Embassy in Beijin.
Ghanaian businessmen wishing to trade with their counterparts in China have been advised to liaise with Ghana’s Embassy in China in order to avoid dealing with non-existing companies.
“Dealing with prospective business counterparts solely online may be dangerous without the verification of the authenticity of such businesses,” Mr Alfred Gogu Saame, the Charge d’Affaires of the Ghana Embassy in Beijing-China stated.
He was answering questions from a 20-member media delegation from Ghana that paid a courtesy call on him as part of their visit to China.
The delegation has been in China since June 1, 2014 to take part in a workshop organised by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) of China.
As part of the programme, the delegation also took part in the Second Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation which was attended by over 260 media practitioners and administrators from 40 African countries and their Chinese counterparts.
Mr Saame said it was painful that some Ghanaian businessmen bypassed the embassy in their dealings and only showed up to solicit support when some problems cropped up.
He also said to boost the relationship between Ghana and China, President John Dramani Mahama was expected to pay a visit to China within the year.
He expressed the hope that all the outstanding issues about the $3 billion China Bank for Development (CBD) would be resolved to ensure the release of the rest of the loan.
For his part, the Defence Attaché to the Embassy, Brigadier General Alfred Issah Wuni, advised the media to be circumspect with their reportage about galamsey and let their focus be on the Ghanaian businessmen who engaged the Chinese for such activities.
Galamsey
On the arrest of some Chinese nationals in Ghana for engaging in illegal mining, Mr Saame described the incident as very unfortunate.
He, however, blamed some Ghanaians who recruited some Chinese who were not aware of the country’s mining rules and regulations to engage in such illegal activities.
He announced that the government was planning to open a consulate at Guangzhou in the Guangdong Province.
Volume of trade
Briefing the media delegation about the trade between Ghana and China, The Embassy’s Consul in charge of trade, Madam Tenewaa Asamoah, said currently trade between the two countries had reached $5 billion with the scale tilting in favour of China.
She explained that the main commodities exported to China included cashew, cocoa, fish products and scrap metals, while commodities exported to Ghana included electrical products, cars, household items, machinery and chemicals.
Madam Asamoah urged Ghanaian businessmen to strive to add value to their products before exporting them, to earn the country the required profit on exported commodities.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Adu, of the Ministry of Information and Media Relations thanked the embassy for receiving them warmly and advised that such hospitality be extended to all Ghanaians who visited China.
