The Cocoa Processing Company Limited, manufacturers of cocoa butter, has been adjudged the overall exporter of the year 2010 in the country, at the 21st National Awards for Export Achievement on the theme: “Motivating Competitiveness and Sustainable Excellence for Export” , in Accra on Saturday.

Other awardees included Ghana Specialty Fats industries, Golden Exotics Limited, Ghana Rubber Estate Limited, Praise Export Services Limited, Panofi Company Limited, Pen and Plastics Ghana Limited, Africa Explosives Ghana Limited, Tema Steel Company, Pinora Limited and PZ Cussons Ghana Limited.

The rest were Aluworks Ghana Limited, Bet Exports Ghana Limited, Azar Chemical industries Limited, Interplast Limited, Akosombo Textiles Limited, Modern Wood Technology and Company Limited, Cresta Paint Industries, Ernimich Limited, Dhillion Farms Limited and Kpone Losber Export Company Limited.

Praise Export Services Limited received the most diversified exporter, Lion Aluminium Products Limited took the Platinum Awards, while Export Service Awards went to Ghana Standards Authority.

Ms Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, in a speech read on her behalf by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Joseph Samuel Annan, said government has been working hard to create a conductive environment for exporters of non-traditional goods and services to operate.

She said currently the Ministry was finalising a National Export Strategy for the non-traditional export sector, which aimed at providing a common roadmap for all stakeholders to exploit and maximize their potentials of the NTE.

The Minister said this would ensure that the sector made maximum contribution to the Gross Domestic Product growth to consolidate and enhance the country’s middle-income status, while creating formal decent job opportunity and ensure high standards of living for Ghanaians.

Ms Tetteh said the Ministry has launched the Industrial Sector Support Programme (ISSP) 2011-2015 to provide guidelines for the implementation of government’s industrial development agenda in ensuring the competitiveness and growth of Ghana’s manufacturing sector.

“Under the ISSP, the MOTI will collaborate with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the Export Development and Investment Fund and other agencies to design and implement export development programmes in the manufacturing sector,’’ she said.

Ms Tetteh noted that the objective was to address the challenges of the low production capacities, low productivity, lack of requisite market information, poor product quality and unattractive packaging.

She said government was seeking a regional Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union (EU) to protect the access to the EU market.