Madam Monica Josiah, Head of Shippers’ Services and Trade Facilitation at the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), has called on the government to work in collaboration with stakeholders to redeem the cedi from its present woes.
She said it was time the government took effective measures to help stabilise the cedi to build a resilient and robust economy for macro-economic stability.
This, according to her, would help exporters to conduct themselves better and grow their businesses, devoid of Letter of Commitment (LOC) challenges.
Madam Josiah made the call at a Seminar organised by the GSA in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on LOC for key stakeholders in the Ashanti region.
The seminar was meant to address challenges posed by the implementation of the Bank of Ghana Letter of Commitment for the repatriation of export proceeds to businesses.
Participants included exporters, bankers and stakeholders in the country’s international trade.
The objective of LOC, she said, was to further improve the country’s balance of payment deficits and contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and thus, contribute to the economic growth and stability of the national currency.
She said a multi-sectorial approach was needed to provide better services to importers and exporters.
The GSA, she indicated, would continue to protect and promote the interest of exporters and importers and address challenges they faced during shipment.
Madam Josiah stressed the need to equip shippers to be conversant with the national trading scene and to be aware that GSA would help address their concerns at the borders.
She noted that delays in accessing repatriated funds from the bank and high commissions charged by commercial banks were also being addressed to ensure that the quality and quantity of consignments were not compromised.
Mr George Danquah Ameyaw, Director of the Ashanti, Bono East and Ahafo regions of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) said the National Export Development Strategy (NEDS) was aimed at encouraging Ghanaians to add value to local produce before export.
This would help increase the country’s foreign exchange reserves and meet the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda instituted by the government.
Mr John Ammisah Glover, Deputy Ashanti regional Manager of GSA, said there was the need for exporters to engage in proper LOCs and repatriation of export proceeds to promote trade sanity.
