He said government was working on improving on the country’s framework to remove any bottlenecks that hindered private investors and give opportunity to expand their businesses and employ more people.

Mr Awal said this in Accra to mark India Business Day on the theme: “Promoting India-Ghana Business Relations through Trade and Investment,’’ organised by the World Trade Centre, Accra (WTCA).

He said Ghana and India had a long relationship in the area of industrialisation, energy, health and education and expressed the hope that the partnership would continue to enhance their mutual benefits.

He said government had established a national entrepreneurship and innovative plan to drive local business ownership and equip Ghanaians with the needed creative skills to create jobs for themselves.

Mr Awal noted that the Small and Medium Enterprises play a critical role in creating jobs for the citizenry and, as such, government had put in place fiscal policies to reduce the high cost of doing business and stimulate economic growth.

He said government had set up an Industrial Development Fund to support critical private sector industrial initiatives, as one of the means of tackling the rising unemployment levels.  Mr Awal said Ghanaian businesses faced significant challenges in exporting or importing goods at the ports, and as a result, government had reduced fees and charges at the ports to ease business transactions.

“Government has introduced reforms in port clearing systems and benchmark our ports against some of the best in the world such as Dubai and Singapore, and make our ports some of the most efficient in Africa to support import and export,’’ he said.

He urged investors in the country to respect the country's laws for investment.

Mr Birender Singh, the India High Commissioner to Ghana, said India had been supportive to the country’s development over the years through lines of credit and grants amounting to US$ 230 million.

The High Commissioner said the partnership with the country would not only deepen the friendly relations between the two countries but would also deepen economic co-operation and collaboration.

He said India would continue to work with the country to overcome the global challenges that confronted the two nations and the rest of the world.  He thanked the Ghanaian community for its enormous support, saying India’s trade investments had, over the years, provided jobs for many Ghanaians.

Mr Emmanuel Doni Kwame, the Managing Director of WTC Accra, urged the Indian business community to invest in water and energy since there would be challenges in the sector due to water pollution.He said the Centre brought together businesses and government agencies involved in international trade to provide essential trade services, missions and market research to stimulate economic development.