The Vice-President, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to ensure that the country’s embassies abroad contribute to trade volumes and also secure opportunities for Ghanaian businesses abroad.
She said the role of embassies in promoting trade was crucial, and therefore, asked the embassies to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in Accra to create more trade opportunities for the country.
The Vice-President was speaking at the MFA in Accra yesterday during a working visit to the ministry, where she interacted with Heads of Bureaus, ambassadors and junior staff.
Balance of trade
Prof. Opoku-Agyeman further questioned balance of trade benefits to the country, asking how many Ghanaian businesses operated in countries with long-standing embassies in Ghana.
“I know there is much more that you can do in order to ensure our investments are also going far.
A lot of embassies have been in Ghana for as long as we have been with them; can we honestly say that whatever they have taken from Ghana is what we are also getting?
“How many Ghanaian businesses do we have in those countries; and why is that the case?
So what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) do we carry, and which ones are we not carrying?,” she demanded to know.
The Vice-President stressed the importance of setting and meeting KPIs to ensure mutual benefits to support the country’s economic growth.
She, therefore, emphasised the need for in-country support to help Ghanaian businesses to succeed abroad to mirror the success stories of foreign businesses in the country.
Commendation
Prof. Opoku-Agyeman commended the MFA for the performance so far, which she said had led to the passing of the UN Resolution on Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade at the UN last month.
“This resolution is of particular interest to all of us, or should be, maybe more than we are giving attention to.
“I encourage you to do even more. Much have been achieved in the life of this country, especially in the last year or so,” the Vice-President added.
Reforms
The sector minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said that the MFA had undergone a major overhaul, including the passport regime with the introduction of a new chip-embedded passport that met International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
The passport, based on its strength, had been shortlisted for an international award as one of the most secured and sophisticated travel document globally.
Mr Ablakwa said a backlog of some 40,000 passports had been cleared, while processing time had also been reduced to under 15 days.
There was also courier services for delivering of passports, and a 30 per cent reduction in passport costs from GH¢500 to GH¢350.
The minister added that the country had secured 50 visa waiver agreements to allow Ghanaians travel visa-free.
“Every country is our target.
There are Ghanaians everywhere in the world.
The latest countries we have added are Kyrgyzstan, Zambia, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Maldives.
“The Maldives is before Cabinet now, and at the next Cabinet meeting, it will be approved, and then we will go to Parliament for ratification under Article 75 of the Constitution,” he said.
Free-visa clarification
Mr Ablakwa further explained that the country’s “free visa” policy for Africans meant “if you are an African, you don’t pay the cost for a visa.
Whereas our friends from other parts of the world will be paying about $250 when we roll out the e-visa regime.
“An African will not be required to pay the $250; but it doesn’t mean that you will not go through the visa application process,” he said.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh