Trade and Industry Minister, Mr Alan Kyerematen, has stated that the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) by the government has boosted the country’s economic development.
That, he said, was the reason Ghana was one of the first countries to sign the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade facilitation agreement.
At the opening of the second National Single Window conference on trade facilitation programme in Accra yesterday, Mr Kyerematen said the WTO had estimated that the TFA would generate over $1 trillion in benefits annually to developing countries.
He said the incorporation of the Single Window concept in the TFA was to ensure the provision of trade-related information and further enhance cooperation.
“It is the intention of the government to fully capitalise on this opportunity and we have, therefore, initiated a number of accompanying measures indicating our commitment to fulfil the obligations of the agreement”, Mr Kyerematen said.
The minister commended West Blue Consulting, technical partners of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on the National Single Window, for facilitating the ease of doing business in the country.
The National Single Window, he said, had contributed to the reduction in time and cost across borders thus ensuring predictability in the delivery of goods to market.
“I believe we are at a point where we have elevated the single window to a larger platform, since it has become a national priority for us”, Mr Kyerematen said.
The programme, organised by West Blue Consulting, in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce and the Customs Division of the GRA and its stakeholders, was aimed at sharing experiences and best practices of the single window and trade facilitation projects.
He indicated that trade facilitation required the needed logistics and infrastructure of which the National Single Window became an interface through which information and processes ought to be digitise to ensure accessibility to trade information.
The single window, he also said, was helping to promote transparency by enhancing government revenue mobilisation through increased compliance by various actors within the trade processes.
TFA and Industrialisation
The signing of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), he suggested, was fundamental to Ghana’s economic development, and “this is why Ghana was one of the first countries to sign the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade facilitation agreement”, he said
The government, the minister indicated, had similarly initiated an ambitious programme for industrial transformation.
“The kind of production capacity government wants to generate, which would then lead to fulfilling the trade requirement, requires that manufacturing initiatives are introduced to marginally increase production”, he said.
Textile and garments
He said the strategic adhoc industries such as the reviving of the textile and garment initiative, an integrated iron and steel sector and automobile assembling were key areas the government was seeking to diversify into, hopefully within the next five years.
“We will be diversifying our economy away from cocoa and gold to the petrochemical industry, creative arts and other sectors as we seek to create trade platforms that will require us to trade across borders in a cost effective manner”, Mr Kyerematen said.
He also hinted of the government’s plan to partner the private sector to establish at least one major industrial park in each of the 10 regions.
Mr Kyerematen also appealed to the WTO to assist Ghana to fund its trade facilitation processes, which, he said, were costly and required capital injection.
Trade facilitation agreement
The Deputy Director General of WTO, Mr Yonov Frederick Agah, indicated that single window remained a major trade facilitation agreement requirement in helping countries reduce business cost and further maximise revenue.
Describing the TFA as an essential force to Africa’s trade, he suggested that developing countries stood to gain, if they ratified the agreement as it would make business faster, cheaper and easier.
“By ratifying the agreement, WTO member countries can turn the benefits into reality which would help improve the transparency of imports and export requirements which would simplify border processes and enhance cooperation”, Mr Agah suggested.
He commended Ghana for deploying the single window project which, he said, would help the government achieve its role to reduce time and cost.
He encouraged countries within the subregion, that had not yet ratified the TFA, to endeavour to do so.
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