Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, says the transformative policies of the Government has moved Ghana from 167 in 2016 to 154th position in 2017 in the ranking of the World Bank Trade across Border Report.

The increase in the country’s ranking, he said, could be attributed to the reduction in the time and cost of import procedures from two weeks to 48 hours and 50 dollars respectively, per consignment under the National Single Window platform.

He said similar improvements were registered in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI), where Ghana rose 12 places from 100th in 2014 to 88th position in 2016, the highest improvement since the survey was launched in 2017.

The Deputy Trade and Industry Minister made this known when he addressed exporters and stakeholders at the 78th National Exporters’ Forum in Accra on Wednesday.

Mr Ahenkorah said government would continue to remove barriers to trade and ensure the country’s export regime flourish.

He said exporters played an indispensable role in the economy through influencing the level of economic growth, employment and the balance of payments.

The Deputy Minister said the Ministry had outlined a number of strategic interventions, which included the National Industrial Revitalization Programme with a stimulus fund of $200 million to support distressed but commercially viable companies, the One District, One Factory Initiative and the Export Development and Diversification Programme.

He explained that the Export Development and Diversification component of those initiatives espoused the need to evolve a clear national exports strategy aimed at diversification, competitiveness, and the development of more export markets for an expanded range of products.

Mr Ahenkorah observed that the various trade policies implemented by the Government had enabled trade activities to increase in the past few years, adding that the economy grew from 3.7% in 2016 to about 8.3% in 2017, and it is expected to further grow by the end of this year.

He said the implementation of the National Single Window (GNSW) and subsequent roll out of the paperless ports system had cut down the time for business transactions at the port.

“The best trade facilitation processes regime has become the hallmark of this government’s administration.

“We’re working hard to further improve efficiency at the port,” he emphasised.