Dubai to boost trade, economic ties with Ghana

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced its intention to boost trade and economic relations with Ghana.

The Chamber said the establishment of its office in Accra is the first step by the group to increase business activities between Ghana and Dubai as well as use the country as base to explore business opportunities in the West African Sub-region.

Mr Hamad Buamim, President of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced this when he led an 11-member delegation from the Chamber to call on Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at his office in the Flagstaff House.

The group is in the country to explore business opportunities in Ghana as well as the West African sub-region.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was established in 1965 is a private non-profit organisation, whose objective is to support the business community in Dubai and promote Dubai as an international business hub.

The Chamber currently has 27 business groups that are divided by industry, and 43 business councils divided by country.

The Dubai Chamber conducts sector or country specific trade missions to identify and assess investment opportunities overseas.

In 2012 it organised trade missions to the US, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Germany and India.

Mr Buamim also stated that the group intends to invest in the Ghanaian economy for the long term.

He said the prospects for investing in Ghana are excellent because for the past few years’ trade growth has increased considerably.

He said Dubai imports lot of commodities from Ghana and believes there are opportunities beyond just importing to processing the commodities and pre-exported to the rest of the world.

Mr Buamim also stated that the Chamber has already identify few sectors of the Ghanaian economy for the short to medium term especially where Dubai have the comparative advantage.

He enumerated the sectors as agriculture, food-processing, commodity trading, supply chain and logistics, tourism and real estates.

He said even though Dubai is not a producer of energy their business community has the expertise to deal with the energy and oil related businesses.

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur on his part expressed the delight that the Chamber’s intention to advantage of the friendly climate to explore business opportunities for the benefit of the people of the two countries.

He said there are great opportunities in the country and urged the delegation to invest directly into the economy to improve the lives and living standards of the people.

He said the government is trying to create a stable and predictable economic environment so that when investors come to invest they are able to make high returns on their investments.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur also stated that Ghana is a very stable country with vibrant democratic structures and that there were no unstable conditions that would affect businesses.

He said despite the international conditions, which are not favourable to countries that produce primary products the government have tried to manage the economy to ensure stability.

He said the judicial system in Ghana was predictable and fair in its adjudication and that the businesses can use it to settle their disputes.

Source: GNA