Korea investment agency sets up Ghana’s offices

THE Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), a Republic of Korea-owned institution tasked with the responsibility of transforming the country’s economy into export-driven one has opened its official business directorate, the  Korea  Business Centre (KBC) in the country.
The office is expected to serve as a one-stop shop, providing the Korean business community in the country and the sub-region with first hand business information and investment opportunities existing in Ghana and the West African sub-region.
The Vice President of the KOTRA, Mr Han Chul Lee, said at an opening ceremony in Accra that the country’s estimated 24.5 million populace coupled with the recent discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities meant that the Ghana’s economic growth would soon be rising.
“We, therefore, think that both countries (Ghana and Korea) need to expand their diplomatic ties to help in this regard,” the Mr Chul Lee noted.
According to him, government’s major policies in solar power extensions, transportation, communication and the others were areas in which “the Korea people possess much knowledge in.”
He was, therefore, optimistic that the KOTRA’s KBC would help expose the expertise of Korea to the Ghanaian government while helping to cement the existing diplomatic relationships between the two nations.
The Trade and Industry Minister, Ms Hanna Tetteh, observed that “having an office like this in Ghana holds a future for both nations and that the office would not only make our respective businesses viable but would help strengthen and deepen our Korean and Ghanaian economies and make us even closer.”
She was optimistic that the establishment of the KBC in the country would further encourage “more Koreans to invest in Ghana”, adding that “government wishes to extend its appreciation to the various Koreans already doing businesses in the country.”
  The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Sang Hak Lee, said Ghana’s economy was growing than any other African country’s economy  due to the country’s socio-political stability acquired over the years.
“Korea is a model in the Asian continent. Ghana is also a model in the African,” the Ambassador observed, adding that “the opening of the KBC in the country would enable both nations to partner each other even closer.”
According to him, most of the Korean business community were knocking at the doors of Ghana and further hinted that the Korean Exim Bank would soon be setting up its offices in the country.
The country Director of the KOTRA, Mr Doh-Jae Yim, said the new centre in Ghana was the 102nd office of the KBC world-wide.
 The KOTRA was set up in 1962 to help transform the country into an export-driven economy and had since created its offices throughout the world.