Standard Chartered holds Trade Forum for SMEs
Migrates best practice to SMEs on doing business in Asia
Ghana, September 17 2008 – Standard Chartered has hosted its inaugural Trade Forum for SMEs under the theme- “Doing Business in Asia” as part of its commitment to focus on increasing market and profitability of its SME portfolio at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra.
The forum which was organised as part of the Bank’s Africa SME Month celebrations brought together Trade experts and Senior Executives from the Bank’s business in Asia, key stakeholders in the SME sector, the Media, Management and staff of the Bank.
Opening the session, Kofi Fumey, Head of Marketing Ghana & West Africa, said“Standard Chartered is interested in building capacity for SMEs in Ghana. This is why we are constantly offering them value-added services that will boost their businesses. Today, we are migrating best practice to the Ghanaian market.”
Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, President, Association of Ghana Industries who was the Guest of Honour stated that for many Ghanaian business people, doing business in Asia is especially difficult because there are simply little or no information points where critical data can be gathered.
“Ghanaian businesses, especially Ghanaian SMEs suffer an acute lack of resources and capacity when it comes to the question of information. This is of great concern, knowing that our participation in the ever –growing 75 billion plus Afro-Asian Trade Corridor is dependent on having the right information. Therefore, I am personally very excited about this ‘Doing Business in Asia Forum’ and I congratulate Standard Chartered Bank on their initiative.”
He also advised SME business owners to be professional in all their dealings. He added that more often than not such good initiatives aimed at grooming small businesses have failed because some business owners are not diligent in paying back their loans while others lack the necessary professional structures which will enable their businesses stand firm and grow.
Delivering the keynote address, William Boateng, Head of SME for West Africa said that Standard Chartered’s focus on SMEs is an acknowledgement of the role they play in helping economies to develop. Standard Chartered therefore remains focused on providing the Right Partner support to them.
“Last year, we organized an SME Trade mission to the World SME Expo in Hong Kong for 143 of our SMEs from across Africa including 13 from Ghana. This year Standard Chartered Bank has launched the Africa – UAE Trade Corridor and an estimated 200 SME customers across our markets in Africa including 75 from Ghana will have the opportunity to participate in the Hong Kong Trade Fair in December and in an additional event in Guangzhou, China. This development is a direct response to the success of the last year’s Trade Mission and the bank’s intention to increase the volume of SME trade between Africa and Asia.”
The Africa – UAE Trade corridor is an initiative designed to assist SMEs to conduct cross-border business across Standard Chartered Bank’s international network of over 70 markets.
Participants at the Trade Forum including customers, media personnel and the general public took advantage of the interactive nature of the event to ask questions in relation to the real opportunities and challenges they face when doing business in Asia. These concerns and questions were expertly addressed during the presentation by Glenn Ho, Unit Head, Medium Enterprise SME Banking, SCB UAE, and responsible for Africa-Dubai Trade Relations.
Earlier on in the day, Mark Achiampong, Head of Sales SME Banking, Ghana, took participants through a product presentation, during which he introduced the Standard Chartered’s customer-centric Business Club Concept. The Business Club seeks to provide business development services for clients. Business Development services are non-financial services concentrated on providing training, consultancy and other business advisory services to address the internal constraints faced by businesses.
The event was spiced with sterling intermittent performances by the Adehyemma Dance Ensemble and ended with a cocktail.
Standard Chartered believes that SMEs in Africa currently account for between 30-60% of GDP, predicting that SMEs will be a key driver of sustainable economic growth in Africa over the next 10 years. The Bank’s success in its SME Africa proposition has been achieved through rigorously pursuing its strategy of launching new, innovative and customer-centric products, including SME Express Trade, Business Instalment Loans among others.
For more information, please contact:
Nii Okai NunooArea Head of Corporate Affairs, West Africa
Tel: +233(0)21 669688 Fax: +233 (0) 21 661676
Nii-Okai.Nunoo@standardchartered.com