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TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING AGREEMENT SIGNED BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF GHANA AND SWITZERLAND AND THE UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (UNIDO) IN SWITZERLAND

At a short ceremony at the Swiss Federal Palace in Berne on Thursday, April 19, 2007, His Excellency Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu, Ambassador of Ghana to Switzerland and Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva and Vienna signed a Trade Capacity Building Agreement on behalf of the Government of Ghana with Mrs. Doris Leuthard, Swiss Federal Councillor (i.e. Minister) for Economic Affairs and Mr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

The agreement is to assist Ghana to increase her exports substantially by helping her in three areas, namely; improving supply-side capacity and competitiveness, proving conformity with market requirements and enhancing connectivity with world markets.

In a brief statement, Federal Councillor Mrs. Leuthard expressed confidence that this new concept would prove to be an effective tool in removing the present barriers and hindrances facing Ghanaian exports and would further enable Ghanaian exporters to compete more effectively within the global arena.

In his response, His Excellency Mr. Kwabena Baah-Duodu, expressed appreciation for the confidence which UNIDO, WTO as well as the Swiss Confederation have had in Ghana and which had led to the selection of the country as one of the nine developing nations to be assisted towards improving their export capacities and competitiveness, thereby empowering them to effectively access international markets. He pointed out that removing supply-side constraints would help Ghana to become a middle income country by the end of the planned period.

Ambassador Baah-Duodu was accompanied to the Swiss Federal Palace by Mrs. Marjorie Addison, a First Secretary at the Embassy of Ghana in Berne.