NDC Holds Talks with Swedish Government

As the NDC looks forward to a new mandate and a government by the people of Ghana come Dec 8th we in Germany wish to send our compliments to NDC and its hard work to wrestle power from the NPP government.. More so we are proud to be associated with the hard work put together by the NDC campaign teams both in Accra and Europe.

Our last but not the least sponsorship of the 2004 campaign saw the German branches in cooperation with our Swedish counterparts sponsoring an Atta-Mills delegation to hold talks with the Swedish government on various issues amongst which includes trade, economic cooperation and the forthcoming elections. In Stockholm The delegation visited the Swedish Foreign Affairs Ministry, finance institutions and various Swedish consultancies to lay groundwork for an engaging economic reform programme under an Atta-Mills government involving the Scandinavian country. The delegation led by Mr Chris Addy-Nayo also included Mr Micah Kissi (Chairman of the NDC Branch, Sweden), Mr Franklin Adusei and Mr Jeff Dzoulo..

The delegation visited the Swedish Foreign Ministry where they held talks with Directors from both the International Trade Policy and the African Division. The talks revolved around international trade policy and how it can be made more effective to protect the interests of Ghana, the ECOWAS communities and Africa as a whole. An Atta-Mills government will seek the assistance of the Swedish government to use its influence within the European Union to impact on fair trading systems for African countries, build the institutions of the ECOWAS community and support both legal and economic reforms in Ghana. Other issues discussed included future economic partnerships between Swedish enterprises and their Ghanaians counterparts as well as the social and legal responsibilities of Swedish and other European firms in Ghana.

Talks were also held with Directors from the Swedish Investment Firm Swedfund. The discussions here included the need for Ghana to be more proactive in seeking joint partnership with Swedish firms who have the technical capacity and know-how to make an impact in strategic sectors of the Ghanaian economy. On the part of Swedfund the Directors were willing to finance viable projects in partnership with Swedish counterparts and stated their interests to increase their portfolios in the Ghanaian market. An Atta-Mills government will encourage an aggressive economic partnership programme to enable Ghanaian firms access finance for growth from Swedfund and other development finance institutions in Europe.

Further talks were held with the Swedish infrastructure Consultancy Swederail, at which a number of other Swedish Management Consultants with interests in Africa attended. Talks here included the determination of an Atta-Mills government to modernise the transportation infrastructure in Ghana in cooperation with ECOWAS partners and the need for complementary legal reforms in the transport and other sectors. Consultants present expressed their interest to cooperate with other Swedish organisations to make their services available to Ghana.

The delegation also paid a courtsy call to the Ghanaian born Swedish MP, the Honourable Joe Franz at the Swedish Parliament where a number of issues were discussed. The delegation impressed unpon the Honorable Joe Franz to use his influence within the Swedish Parliament and government to ensure that the ruling NPP government upholds Ghana?s international democratic credentials by ensuring a free and fair elections on Dec 7.

We in Germany have a series of programmes lined up for the 2005 for the benefit of the NDC and also Ghanaians and Africans in Germany and we look forward to seeing all our partners and other interested parties For more information on our programmes and other activities please contact me at the email address below

Long live Atta-Mills

Long live Ghana

Long live the NDC

Mr Kwasi Tamakloe kwasi_tamakloe2000@yahoo.de