The Ghana Export Promotion Council (GEPC) is to market the Ghanaian Kente at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa to secure investment into the sector. Consequently, GEPC is negotiating with Ghana's Consulate in South Africa to secure a deal with the World Cup Local Organizing Committee to allow GEPC to use its platform to facilitate the marketing drive for the Ghanaian handicraft. Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer of GEPC, was speaking at a meeting with a five-member delegation of the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA), a provincial trade and export promotion unit of South Africa, in Accra on Thursday. The delegation, led by Mrs. Pinkie Nqeto, Head of Trade and Investment at MEGA met GEPC to discuss and explore new areas of cooperation between the two institutions after the just-ended seventh Africa Investment Forum in Accra. The meeting was a follow up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both institutions in 2008 to promote mutual cooperation for expansion of trade and investment and other forms of economic cooperation among their people. Mr. Owusu Agyeman said the kente industry, including other arts products, remained important on the radar of the GEPC because of its potential to attract tourists as well as generate revenue but added that it had not enjoyed the needed attention; hence the council was facilitating the deal to introduce kente to a wider market. Kente is a mainstay of the people of Bonwire in the Ashanti Region and Kpetoe in the Volta Region but lack of reliable market has rendered the industry unattractive and threatens its development. Mr. Owusu Agyeman said based on the council's new move, the fortunes of the industry would be turned around adding that the GEPC was undergoing a restructuring and re-branding process to strengthen its capacity and public appeal to deliver customer and demand-driven services to the exporting community. "This will lead to its elevation to an authority status," he said. Mr. Agyeman said GEPC was working to forge closer collaboration with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to effectively manage the export and investment regime of the country. He assured the delegation of GEPC's commitment to the terms of the MOU adding the council was working to build synergies with relevant institutions to make it a world class export industry player. He commended South Africa for her economic performance and Ghana had a lot to learn from her. Mrs. Nqeto said beyond signing MOU's, MEGA was interested in implementing reforms to meet the desired aspirations of its people. She said Mpumalanga, one of nine provinces of South Africa, compared very much to Ghana in terms of mineral and natural endowments, the reason MEGA was interested in building the relationship with the GEPC to a higher level. Mrs. Nqeto commended GEPC for putting in place infrastructure that enabled it to effectively undertake its activities adding that MEGA would set up similar structure to enable it deliver effective services to its stakeholders. Source: GNA