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Bilateral negotiations on Free Trade between Ghana, Turkey soon

By Ebenezer SABUTEY
The second secretary of the embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Accra, Ipek Zeytinoglu, has revealed in an interview, that the two countries will see an eminent start of bilateral negotiations on free trade agreement possibly by the end of January this year.

Speaking on behalf of the Turkey Ambassador at the just ended 3rd Ghana Turkish Export Products Fair in Accra-Ghana,, Zeytinoglu said an ambitious target has been agreed upon by the respective trade ministers to raise the volume of trade between the two countries to one billion dollars by 2015, adding that if considered the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Ghana which amounted in value to 175 million dollars by the end of 2009 may reach one billion dollars by 2015.

The trade value increased to 290 million dollars by the end of 2010, the prediction for 2011 indicates a bilateral trade volume of over 400 million dollars making the mutual goal of reaching the one billion target in 2015 a reality.
However according to her, for this purpose, the business communities in both countries will have to work hard and it is precisely the mutual organization of trade fairs that will be instrumental and in this respect the increasing participation of Ghanaian businessmen to trade fairs organized in Turkey is indeed very promising.

She said although the dynamism and entrepreneurship of the private sector will have a primary role in enhancing the trade relations, an equally important role will have to be assumed by the various governments by elaborating an adequate legal infrastructure between the two countries and thus supporting the business communities.
“The Turkey embassy envisaged also to conclude between Ghana, an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and to initiate the negotiations for this purpose early this year” said Zeytinoglu.
In conclusion she congratulated the organizers of the event which witnessed more than 50 Turkish companies operating in various sectors of industry including food processing, textile, construction, mining, cosmetics, automotive, among others.
Kofi Larbi, Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, speaking on behalf of the minister said in recent times, trade and economic ties between the two countries have yielded positive outcomes which have, in turn improved the livelihoods of the people.
Countries all over the world are therefore deploying considerable efforts to secure their fare share of the international markets, and exhibitions and fairs have thus become important avenues for markets.

He said in line with government’s broader objective of achieving a better economy, the Trade and Industry sector is committed to increasing international trade through an aggressive export drive based on improved competitiveness of local industries and enhanced competitiveness of Ghana as a business destination.



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