Despite the global financial crisis, non-traditional exports (NTEs) put up a better performance in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2008.
Data available from the Ghana Export Promotion Council indicate that exports during the period amounted to 316.71 million dollars, a growth of 32.54 per cent over revenue of 238.95 million dollars for the same period of 2008.
Processed and semi-processed products contributed about 86 per cent to the revenue.
Cocoa paste, plastic products, cocoa butter and canned tuna were among the 10 leading products during the period.
The European Union and ECOWAS are the major destinations for NTEs, accounting for 44.58 per cent and 35.68 per cent of the market respectively.
However, Mr Collins Boateng, Executive Secretary, Ghana Export Promotion Council, said NTEs were not entirely safe from the impact of the economic crisis.
Speaking at a two-day workshop to examine the harmful effects of the global economic downturn on the export business community, Mr Boateng said while there was continuous demand for exports, some importers were asking for extended period of payment and this could impact on working capital of exporters.
In this connection, he said, the Council was focusing on improving market access of NTEs in the West African sub-region as a means of offsetting any dip in demand in the EU market.
There are also plans to explore opportunities in other countries in Africa, especially South Africa.
The workshop is being organized by GEPC in collaboration with the Netherlands Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI).
The workshop is to arm SMEs that export products to the EU with insight into the crisis and measures to be taken to have a better chance at survival and to be well positioned for the up-turn.
Mr John Gyetuah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, said government supported the active promotion of exports of NTEs to the ECOWAS sub-region as a way of boosting intra-African trade to offset reduction in exports to the EU market.
He said government would provide the necessary support to GEPC to increase its market access activities significantly within the ECOWAS sub-region and other markets in Africa.
Ms Inge Sloeckers, Programme Manager CBI, said the workshop would explore measures that SMEs could take to survive and position themselves for future recovery.