The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin has stated that even though the UK will renegotiate some trade deals with its trade partners after the completion of Brexit, Ghana can now take advantage of the Economic Partnership Agreement to export goods to the country.
Trade volumes between the UK and Ghana fell from 1.3 billion pounds in 2013 to one billion in 2014.
Currently, projections show that the figure is expected to drop further as trade activities between Ghana and the UK recorded lower outturn in 2015.
Speaking at the launch of the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce in Accra, Jon Benjamin assured that the UK will still maintain strong trade relationship with Ghana even after the completion of Brexit.
“Looking ahead we will continue to maintain strong trading relationship with countries around the world, particularly with Ghana,” he said.
He however stated that the UK will negotiate new trade agreements with other countries to cover areas such as agriculture and financial services.
“With some countries we will be able to build on existing frameworks, with others we have to negotiate new trade agreements from the scratch,” he said.
According to Mr. Benjamin, the new agreements will be targeted at improving products and services that are exported to the UK, as well as help the UK meet its export target of one trillion pounds by 2020.
“This negotiation will be wide ranging, including sector requirements from agriculture to financial services as well as regulatory issues such as customs and procurements,” he said.
He pointed out that in the meantime, the UK is still a member of the EU, hence Ghanaian exporters can take advantage to enjoy duty quota on goods exported to the UK.
“In the meantime we remain a full member of the EU, so with the EPA recently ratified by the Ghanaian parliament, Ghanaian Export companies can still export to the UK to create employment opportunities for Ghanaians,” he said.
Expressing optimism in the UK economy after the completion of Brexit later, Mr. Benjamin stated that the UK will be able to withstand economic shocks, hence the government of Ghana must strengthen its trade commitments to the country.
He recalled that recently, some 15 Ghanaian CEO were invited to a forum in London to learn new trade deals.
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By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana