Ghana will hold the first ever African Air Exposition (AIRSHOW) in October this year, Madam Dzifa Attivor, Minister of Transport has announced.

As part of the preparations towards the event, Madam Attivor led a high powered eight-member delegation of the 2014 AIRSHOW Local Organising Committee to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the understanding of what the AIRSHOW is all about.

Madam Attivor said, Mr Yusuf Hamadi, Chairman of the International Centre of Excellence (ICE), a privately owned establishment serving a wide spectrum of international aviation training, e-learning, information technology, solutions and consultancy needs, conducted the delegation round the various stalls and also witnessed the display of aircraft paratroopers.

The delegation was taken through presentations on how best to sustain the aviation sector and also to prepare the youth for the future of the aviation sector.

Madam Attivor said she used the opportunity to visit Dubai Ports (DP World) as a follow up on President John Mahamas visit to Dubai in December last year. She also spoke about congestion at the Tema Port and the idea of reducing it to create an enabling environment for customers.

She said bids that had been received from interested companies and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority was going through the process to select a successful bidder for the first phase of the port expansion project which will start with dredging and reclamation.

The Transport Minister said reclamation works had already started at the Takoradi Port and that government was determined to maintain its status as the Gateway to Africa.

The Minister said, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World told the delegation that Dubai started marketing itself in 1985 by inviting visiting companies to come and do their manufacturing and marketing in the country, and as at 2010, more than 8,500 shipping lines were into door-to-door shipping.

This, he said, helped opened their doors by inviting ideas and contributions from customers to enable them to give the best customer service.

She said Sultan Sulayem explained that DP World was currently the third largest operator of ports in the world and that had been achieved by using the latest technologies, focusing on the emerging markets, investing in technology, people and facilities.

He said facilities were designed by their local engineering team and with that they were able to learn from their mistakes. According to Madam Attivor said a delegation from DP World would visit Ghana this month.