Accra, June 22, GNA - Angola President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, at the end of a two-day state visit to Ghana, has enlisted Ghana's support to reconstruct his country.
He acknowledged that his visit had deepened bilateral relations, stressing: "Nothing will be the same regarding our relations from now on," President Dos Santos said after, the reading of a joint-communiqu=E9 issued at the end of the visit.
He said the two nations focused on the liberation struggle and establishment of democratic values in the past, but what is needed now is the promotion of stability and peace for accelerated development.
Consequently the two have concluded two bilateral agreements that would provide meaningful and effective frameworks to enhance co-operation and collaboration.
These are General Agreement on Economic, Commercial, Scientific, Technical and Technical Co-operation and a Memorandum of Understanding fo r the establishment of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries.
President John Evans Atta Mills and President Dos Santos endorsed the decision of the two nations to convene the Fifth Session of Ghana Angola Permanent Joint Commission for co-operation as soon as possible.
The Session would be preceded by a Preparatory Meeting of Experts in Luanda in the first week of August to map out the specific areas of co-operation including oil and gas, trade and industry , agriculture, education and infrastructure development.
Other area would be private sector entrepreneurship, environmental governance, science and technology, combating trans-national crime and ot her areas that the parties consider relevant. With the signing of a 16 point communiqu=E9 by the two Foreign Affai rs of Ghana Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni and his Angolan counterpart Assuncio Afonso Dos Anjos, on the visit which touched on a wide area of bilateral co-operatio n, President Dos Santos called for Ghanaian support for Angola, which he described as an ambitious project.
Angola, a country of about 20 million people was a Portuguese oversea s territory from the 16th century to 1975. After independence, however, the
country which is the second largest petroleum and diamond producer in sub-Saharan Africa was a scene of intense civil war from 1975 to 2002 wit h a peace treaty signed in 2006.
President Dos Santos said the Joint Ministerial Co-operation could be a useful tool for the partnership of the two nations for mutual benefits. Recognising Ghana as a country with a large potential of expertise for the reconstruction exercise, President Dos Santos recalled Ghana's role in the Angolan liberation struggle, paying tribute to Ghana's first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah for his immense role in that activity.
The Angola President extolled the relations between the two nations and hammered on the maintenance of peace in the two-sister African nations as
well as other African countries for accelerated development. He invited President Mills for a reciprocal visit. President Mills, for his part, recalled Ghana's ties with Angola, wh ich dated back to a long way, and re-echoed that Ghana considered it honour a nd privilege to have the Angolan President visiting. b
The President said: "This relation goes back to a long way. It is o ur desire to strive to strengthen the cordial relations between our two countries "We have a lot in common; we both believe with proper collaboration
and co-operation we would be able to move our countries forward in the ri ght direction," he said. President Mills called for enhance collaboration and co-operation among African countries to propel the Continent's development as a showpi ece to the outside world. President Dos Santos was accompanied by his wife Anna Paula, and a
powerful delegation during the visit which was at the invitation of President Mills. During the visit, the two Heads of State engaged in extensive talk s and reviewed the state of their bilateral activities. The two Presidents considered the progress of the quality of democratic governance in Africa and underscored the need to see the fulfilment of commitments in their national constitutions and in the Afri can Union Constitutive Act in particular, to good governance, respect for hum an rights and the rule of law
They also renewed their faith in the in the United Nations and urge d the UN Security Council to sustain its lead in the maintenance of international peace and stability. They expressed concern over the devastating effect of the global recession on the economic performance of their countries and Africa as a whole, and expressed satisfaction at the on-going FIFA World Cup tourname nt in South Africa. They urged the international community to promote friendship and solidarity through sports. As part of his visit, President Dos Santos laid a wreath on the tombs of Dr Nkrumah and his wife Fathia. Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills Ghana's First Lady and her guest Anna Paula
also held talks on the sidelines of the visit. President Dos Santos has since left.
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