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Ghana
The gateway to west Africa. |
 WHAT WE ARE
The Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) is an autonomous body established by NLC Decree 396 of 1969. If is the national focal point institution for export development and promotion, working under the aegis of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Manned by a well trained professional staff, the Council is an authority on the export of products in the non-traditional sector. The contribution of the Council towards the development of this sector is significant.
WHAT WE DO
The Council’s goal is to ensure that the national export diversification and promotion drive succeeds. In pursuance of this goal, the Council engages in an extensive scope of activities.
These include:
development of national export awareness;
identification of products with export potential and locating markets for them;
creating goodwill for Ghanaian products through overseas and local trade fairs and exhibitions;
providing exporters with the necessary assistance for penetrating the competitive international market;
organizing market missions to enable Ghanaian exporters meet prospective overseas buyers;
assisting businessmen traveling abroad with information on the target markets;
providing advice on export marketing to exporters;
training exporters and personnel of export facilitating institutions to upgrade their skills in export marketing;
recommending to Government the necessary assistance and incentives needed by the Ghanaian exporter.
HOW WE DO IT
 General Information Division
The Council’s well-stocked library is a veritable source of useful information on export products, markets, marketing system and mechanisms, quality requirements and packaging. It is open to the public on all working days. The library scans publications received from abroad and culls relevant information for dissemination to exporters the library together with the Public Relations unit constitute the first port of call for visiting clientele of the Council from where they are directed to the appropriate technical staff for assistance, if necessary.
Foreign businessmen find the Council a very reliable source of business information on Ghana.
Advisory Service
Our professional staff counsels exporters on a wide range of issues including product development, adaptation, handling, preservation, packaging, pricing and shipping which, in totality, ensure effective market penetration.
Market Development
The Council assists exporters to locate foreign buyers for their products, using well established channels such as the Ghana Missions and trade Commissioners abroad, Foreign Missions in Ghana and Trade Promotion Organization world-wide.
Trade Facilitation
In order to make the process of exporting easier for non-traditional exporters, the Council liaises closely with all export-related agencies in Ghana to streamline procedures and documentation. Some of these agencies are the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Bank of Ghana, Customs Excise and Preventive Service, Internal Revenue Service, Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority and Freight Carriers.
Export Incentive Schemes
The Council, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, plays a crusading role in the establishment of incentive schemes for exporters, some of which are as follows:-
an Export Proceeds Retention Scheme in operation allows exporters to exchange all
(i.e. 100%) foreign exchange proceeds from non-traditional exports into cedis at competitive rates negotiated with the exporters’ bankers.
a Corporate Tax Rebate which allows any manufacturer or any person engaged in agricultural production, exporting part or all of his production, to claim tax rebate between 40% and 75% of his tax liability.
a Customs Duty Drawback that allows exporters to draw back up to 100% of duties paid on material imported to produce goods for export.
a Bonded Warehousing that allows manufacturers to seek Customs license to hold
raw materials intended for manufacturing for export in secured places without payment of duty.
Up-front Duty Exemption which operates alongside the duty drawback system enables exporters to enjoy 100% duty exemption on imports intended to go into production for export.
National Award for Export Achievement
There is an annual national event held to recognize exporters for their contribution towards the economic well-being of the nation. Since its introduction in 1989, the event has become a powerful incentive in the non-traditional export sector.
The main objectives of this scheme are:
to formerly recognize the contribution of exporters in the non-traditional sector to the
economic prosperity of Ghana;
to commend exporters for exporting quality products;
to encourage higher levels of performance by exporters;
to raise the export consciousness among the Ghanaian business community.
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Exporters’ Education
The Council recognizes the critical importance of training as a toll for enhancing the capabilities of the exporting community. The Council has therefore established the Export School to develop training program covering production, processing, marketing, packaging, procedures and documentation and all other aspects of the export trade. The training programs are delivered through seminars and workshops using both local and foreign experts as resource personnel. In recent times, the Council has collaborated with private sector training institutions in upgrading the skills of the exporter community.
Exporter’s Forum
The establishment of the Export School was preceded by the institution of an Exporters’ Forum in 1987. The Forum is held periodically and serves a dual purpose of finding on-the-spot solutions to problems of exporters and educating them on export related policies.
Registration of Exporters
The Ghana Export Promotion Council registers commercial exporters in the country and the objectives of the registration exercise are as follows:
to build a database that will facilitate the collection of up-to-date information on
exports and exporters for the provision of appropriate assistance programs (both) national and international) for export companies;
the matching of exporters with foreign buyers and other business interests;
to monitor the performance of exporters for purposes of export support schemes, awards and selection and recommendation for other enhanced facilities/incentives provided by GEPC and other export-related institutions;
to give due regard to recognizable and reliable export companies to be carried in
national export drive programs;
to provide the basis for strengthening private sector product associations.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
A chairman and 12 other members constitute the governing body of the Council. A Secretariat headed by an Executive Secretary is responsible for the day to day running of the affairs of the GEPC. The legal and internal audit units operate under the office of the Executive Secretary. Operationally, there are four divisions each supervised by a Director. Under the divisions are departments performing specific duties towards the attainment of the Council’s stated objectives.
These are:
General Information Division
Departments
Trade and Information
Data Processing
Planning and Research Division
Departments
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
Project Management
Policy Analysis
General Promotion Division
Departments
Manufactures
Agriculture
Handicrafts
Zonal Offices
Finance and Administration Division
Departments
Administration
Finance
Training
HOW THE COUNCIL IS FUNDED
Being a Government agency the Council us funded through annual budgetary allocation. This covers operational expenditure for the Council’s recurrent and capital expenditure and work programs. The Council also receives external assistance through bilateral and multilateral agreements from organizations such as UNDP, EU, USAID, IDA, and government of Norway acting through the International Trade Center (ITC), UNCTAD/GATT and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Ghana published in Forbes Global Magazine.
March 20th 2000 Issue.
Developed by AgenciaE.Tv |
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GHANA
