Business News of Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Source: GNA

100 Ghanaian businessmen for China

Accra, April 10, GNA - One hundred owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) leave Ghana for China next week to interact with other international businessmen on modern practices of manufacturing of goods and services.

The trip, supported by the Barclays Bank Ghana Limited would also afford owners of SME's to meet suppliers, manufacturers, service providers, and investors and overseas buyers.

Members, who would also take part in a 10-day trade fair known as Canton Fair (the biggest fair held on earth) in Guangzhou, China where over 150,000 types of products would be displayed.

A Large number of suppliers, manufactures, services providers and investors who are receiving banking products and services from the bank are expected to participate in the fair.

Addressing a Press Conference in Accra on Tuesday, Ms Eunice Sylvia Yamson Nkansa, Head of Local Business, Barclays Bank Ghana Limited said this was the second time the bank was lending support to SME's saying 50 customers of the bank were supported to explore their potentials of their products on the market Dubai last year.

Ms Nkansa said due to the outstanding success of the first trip, the bank recognised the importance to institute it as an annual event to expose the SME's business club members to the rest of the business world.

She said traders and manufacturers were beneficiaries of the second trip, which was being organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She believed the trip would open doors to endless opportunities such as franchise, representation, agencies, partnership and foreign direct investments in Ghana.

This, she said, would feed into the development of Ghana's private sector, which was acknowledged as the engine of growth. Ms Nkansa said excellence was the ultimate of the trip, stressing that international exposure made a lot of difference in business operations. According to her some of the customers were taking along some of their products to enable them exchange ideas on how to export raw materials. She said the bank chose Asia because, "we need to go to where there are best deals and they are best among emerging economies."