The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Herbert Krapa, has disclosed that the successful execution of the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), especially the intervention for the 17 priority products, would expedite the much-needed export development and set the country on the path of prosperity through industrialization.
The strategic goal of the NEDS is to significantly increase the country’s non-traditional export revenue from US$3 billion to over US$25 billion by the year 2029.
“The target before us is enormous, and so are our opportunities. Without any doubt, Ghana Export Promotion Agency (GEPA) has the capacity and what it takes to coordinate the implementation of the strategy with skill and poise, which is why the Ministry of Trade and Industry will continue to support GEPA in discharging the responsibility of implementing the strategy.”
Mr. Herbert Krapa
Export diversification is not enough
Mr. Krapa made these assertions at the inauguration of the NEDS Sector Committees, one of the critical structures recommended in the Strategy.
He said the NEDS fit into the government’s policy framework to enable value addition, business expansion, job creation, promote entrepreneur development of our youth, and accelerate the industrial transformation agenda by building import substitution and export diversification.
“Export diversification is not enough; sophisticated and innovation have to be part of the export eco-system so that we are self-sustainable and able to drive the economy through export.”
Mr. Herbert Krapa
He charged the sector groups, categorized based on the priority products, to monitor the development strategy within these relevant sectors and provide feedback from the economic operators to GEPA.
“The sector groups on whose shoulders most of the responsibilities rest are the reasons for the meeting today. If we are going to drive the NEDS, it has to be a bottom-up approach. That means the sector group involved in the various institutions’ day-to-day functioning would have to work well.”
Mr. Herbert Krapa
NEDS is not for the Ministry of Trade and Industry or GEPA alone
The formation of this group will create a platform for knowledge sharing and experience on the priority products and encourage efforts toward developing and promoting the respective product.
Currently, there is an inter-ministerial committee that supervises all the work that is going to be done and a steering committee, made up of 13 members drawn from institutions in the export trade value chain with the responsibility to consider and streamline project implementation and technical issues, make recommendations to the inter-ministerial oversight committee.
He urged the committees to engage Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to boost export development and collaborate and work together to avoid overlapping and duplication of effort.
“We have always said that the NEDS is not for the Ministry of Trade and Industry or GEPA alone, but a national strategy which all of you assisted in formulating. It is logical that we all are responsible for its implementation and will take the credit when we achieve the strategy’s primary goal.”
Mr. Herbert Krapa
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