"Take advantage of opportunities in horticulture and floriculture"

Mona Quartey, Deputy Minister of Finance, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth to take advantage of the opportunities in the horticulture and floriculture sector to create jobs and contribute to Ghana’s economic development.

She said tourism and all its sub-sectors, including ecotourism have important contributions to make to the nation’s economic development, with agriculture, under which floriculture and horticulture fell, consistently being a major contributor to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.

Ms Quartey, said while cocoa, coffee and shea butter were the main agricultural contributors to the growth of the GDP, flower and vegetables were becoming an important part of that growth.

“The diversification opportunity that is offered through horticulture and floriculture is really important,” she said adding that Ghana had a suitable climate to cultivate and export flowers as countries like Kenya and Ethiopia have done.

She said government was committed to creating the enabling environment to stimulate such entrepreneurial initiatives, with tax rates for businesses involved in non-traditional exports lower than that for traditional exports.

Mrs Mawuena Trebarh, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, who chaired the ceremony, said the GIPC was very keen on supporting investments in all sectors including agriculture and specifically horticulture.

Read more at the Ghana News Agency