Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has asked Latvian investors to make Ghana their preferred business destination.

Speaking at the Ghana-Latvia Business Forum in Accra, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said Ghana offers one of Africa’s most conducive environments for business and investment, with dedicated and progressive government-private sector relations, political stability, and a robust regulatory environment.

She described the forum as a step forward in bilateral relations between the two countries to further strengthen their economic ties. Madam Ayorkor Botchway was hopeful that the forum would consolidate the discussions held in 2018 in Riga and build strong partnerships, joint ventures, and investment opportunities in Ghana.

“The world, since my working visit, has witnessed unprecedented events, not least the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, which have brought profound changes to our respective economies and the entire global economy and international markets. The changes have brought many challenges, but they have also brought opportunities, which underscore the need for Governments and businesses to be innovative and adaptive to new ideas in order to bring about a rebound and sustainable growth of our economies,” Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said.

She said the diplomatic relations between Ghana and Latvia, which date back to 1992, had grown steadily, albeit on the political front.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, who led a business delegation from his country, said Latvia has a particular interest in the fields of education, information technology, and the chemical industry. He said they seek to expand and promote trade and investment relations between the two countries.

“The first Business Forum took place in 2018 in Riga, when we were celebrating the sentinel of the establishment of the Republic, there were 15 representative of business communities of Ghana but I’m happy to report that now we have 17 representatives of the Latvian business community who are very much interested in expanding trade and investment relations between the two countries. Latvian a small country when it comes to the population but when it comes to technology and knowledge, we come consider ourselves bigger, and we will be interested in the relationship we have already developed,” Mr. Rinkēvičs noted

For his part, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Dr. Michael Oquaye Jr., urged the Latvian delegation to consider investing in Ghana, as it has a conducive environment for investment and an educated workforce.

“I am delighted to notice that most of the companies with this delegation are from the Information Communication Technology, ICT related companies. The ICT sub-sector is a priority sector under the Free Zones and Ghana Investment opportunities, and there are new opportunities that investors can take advantage of. These opportunities include data processing, research and development, call centres, software development, hardware, and information centres. Ghana is a very conducive environment, and we have available educated work force,” Dr. Oquaye Jr. said.

Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yaw Amoateng Afriyie reiterated the GIPC’s commitment to foster an enabling environment for businesses in Ghana to thrive.

He said the Centre is keen to exploring partnerships with the Latvian delegation for Ghanaian businesses and also create more jobs. He asked Ghanaian entrepreneurs in particular to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Latvian government to explore and diversify.

“This Latvian mission to Ghana particularly encourages business, trading and relations our countries seek to solidify. We welcome such productivity and commitment by the Latvian delegation, fostering even greater business linkages with Ghana. Missions like this are critical because they allow us to explore business opportunities and build the network of agents, buyers, suppliers and Government contacts for mutual benefit,” Mr. Amoateng Afriyie asked.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako, Vice Chancellor, University of Energy and Natural Resources, the Riga Technical University, and the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies.