Accra, April 30, GNA - Mr Mahama Ayariga, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, has said the first batch of Ghanaian entrepreneurs, manufacturers and investors seeking to participate in the Shanghai Expo 2010 would leave Accra mid-May to China.

Mr Ayariga, the Commissioner General World Expo 2010, Shanghai Ghana Section, said each participant would pay $3,000 to cover all expenses relating to the mission which includes hotel lodging, meals, inter-city air, rail and road travels in China, conferencing costs, interpretation, visits to industrial complexes, administrative costs for 10 days.

Speaking at a preparatory seminar organized for the first batch of participants, Mr Ayariga said the fee, which does not include air ticket, was determined by the China-Africa Business Council the World Expo 2010 scheduled for Shanghai, China, between May and October this year. He said the fair was in line with Ghana's quest to promote and exchange ideas as well as learn from other countries on how to effectively manage the growing concern of rural urban migration.

Mr Ayariga said it would be used to showcase her unique culture, the growing attraction of rural areas due to infrastructural expansion, the potential of agro-processing to rural employment and the success story of Ghana's cocoa industry.

The event would be used to display Ghana's medical plant herbs and spices, trade and investment opportunities, eco-tourism and sites potentials, natural resource endowment and the nation's social cohesion of various communities.

He said, "Ghana would demonstrate to China and the rest of the world our unique relational-nature, describing it as a relationship of respect, preservation and responsibility."

"We will show the profound depths of our cultural diversity and how we intend to build a new Ghana," Mr Ayariga said.