The aim of the workshop is to support the export community to acquire managerial, technical and trade capacity as well as understand the current global export trends to give Ghana a competitive edge.

Opening the first edition of the 2018 training programmes, Ms Gifty Kekeli Klenam, the Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, said the training was being held at a time the Authority was making efforts to develop and reposition Ghanaian products in domestic and international markets.

She said GEPA is a leader in quality assurance in the training of exporters and urged the participants to take advantage of the skills training programmes.“These programmes enhance and expose exporters to opportunities available to maximise returns in the production and sale of their products and services on the local and international markets,” Ms Klenam said.

She said GEPA’s strategy was to ensure Ghana’s ongoing international competitiveness in the area of export to the achievement of the set target of $10 billion in export earnings.“To achieve this, GEPA believes we must have businesses and workers equipped with the skills they need to seize new opportunities and to determine their own path,” Ms Klenam said, adding that GEPA was determined to make Ghanaian businesses ready to take advantage of the unprecedented economic development across the globe.

To be able to achieve this, Ms Klenam said GEPA had developed an export curriculum focused on helping equip businesses with the know-how required to enter markets, develop and maintain a strong position for products and services for business growth and increase export earnings.She said GEPA has embarked on a rebranding exercise to properly position it to provide the needed support to exporters to become competitive and engender economic transformation.

Among the topics being treated are Export Marketing Research, Product Planning and Product Adaptation, Legal Contracts and Negotiations, Sanitary and Photosanitary Specification and Export Procedures and Documentation.

The Ghana Export School was set up by GEPA, the National Export Trade Support Institution of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) responsible for the facilitation, development and promotion of Ghanaian exports in 1987, to address the training needs of the export community.