Accra, May 8, GNA - The Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) has sponsored representatives of selected product associations in the horticultural sector to participate in the Fruits and Vegetables Exhibition of Burkina Faso.

The nine-member team led by the General Manager of GEPC, Mr Lawrence Prempeh, included representatives of three horticultural product associations namely, the Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana (VEPEAG), the Papaya and Mango Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana (PAMPEAG), the National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG) and 3 officers from GEPC.

A statement by the GEPC in Accra on Tuesday said some of the products on display at the three-day exhibition in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, included fresh and dried fruits and vegetables as well as processed agricultural produce.

It said Ghana's participation in the exhibition was to find ways of collaborating with public/private sector operators in the horticultural industry in Burkina Faso.

The statement said the delegation also took advantage of the exhibition to undertake field trips to some horticultural crop production zones and horticultural support infrastructures such as cold storage facilities at the Ouagadougou Airport. "The Ghanaian delegation was impressed about the steady strides that Burkina Faso was making in the horticultural sector, especially in the area of small irrigation schemes to support agricultural production," it said.

The delegation also met with the Director General of the Office of External Trade of Burkina Faso (ONAC). The statement said the Ghanaian private sector delegates complained about delays on the road usually associated with import of fruits and vegetables from Burkina Faso and called on GEPC and ONAC to work together towards the removal of these non-tariff barriers. The General Manager of GEPC and the Director-General of ONAC indicated their preparedness to work together towards the facilitation and enhancement of trade between Ghana and Burkina Faso.

It said GEPC and ONAC, under the auspices of the Ghana-Burkina Faso Joint Commission for Cooperation, will soon organize joint sensitization programmes for stakeholders in the cross-border trade between the two countries. 8 May 07