Accra, April 7, GNA - The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) on Tuesday announced the opening of the receipt of Expressions of Interest for companies that wish to participate in the Ghana-China Business Partnership component of the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

The programme is being facilitated by MOTI, Office of the Commissioner General of the Ghana Section of Shanghai Expo 2010, Togbe Afede IV and the China-Africa Business Council, China.

Under the Ghana-China Business Partnership programme, the Government of Ghana, through the facilitation of Togbe Afede, MOTI and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ghana, shall prepare and send a delegation of 50 Ghanaian companies/enterprises/businesses in various sectors to China every month over a period of six months. This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Mahama Ayariga, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Commissioner General of World Expo 2010, Shanghai Ghana Section.

The statement said the delegation would meet with potential Chinese investors with whom Government hopes to facilitate Ghanaian-Chinese business partnerships to expand the country's industrial and enterprise base. It said all expressions of interest must be addressed to the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

The programme schedule is as follows for the various sectors: May 8 - May 15 - Agro-processing and plantation agriculture; May 22 - May 30- Agricultural machinery; June 5 - June 13 - Construction and transport sector; June 19 - June 27 and July 3 - July 11 - Textiles and publishing/printing; July 17 - July 25 and July 31 - August 8 -Electricals /electronics/plastics; August 14 - August 22 and September 4 - September 12- Pharmaceuticals and health tourism, September 18 - September 26 and October 2 - October 10- Tourism, hospitality and real estates.

Touching on developers the statement said October 16- October 24 is slated for - Power, mining and oil and petro-chemical. It said all expressions of interest must opt to participate in one of the missions and, except the first mission, they must reach MOTI at least a month before the scheduled mission.

Participants will be obliged to pay a fee of $3,000 to cover all expenses related to the mission in China and shall purchase their own air tickets.

This fee was determined by the China-Africa Business Council and covers hotel lodging, meals, inter-city air, rail and road travels in China, conferencing costs, interpretation, visits to industrial complexes, administrative costs among other things for 10 days. All missions shall be preceded by a compulsory three days seminar to provide orientation and prepare participants. Every mission shall be led by a ministerial government delegation.