Foreign affairs ministers of Ghana and the Dominican Republic
Ghana and the Dominican Republic have signed a communique to strengthen bilateral and economic cooperation between them on the margins of the on-going 74th UN General Assembly in New York.
Tourism, investment and trade and supporting each other at the multilateral levels were some of the issues that came up when the minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey with her Dominican counterpart, Mr.Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado.
"Accra and Santo Domingo are far each other due to the Atlantic but we share things in common on several fronts. We share same ancestry due to the slave trade, while we produce cocoa, you also produce coffee and so there is the need for us to collaborate to improve the livelihoods of our people."
The year of return celebration was also high during the meeting and the foreign minister informed her counterpart of the visit of President Akufo-Addo to some Caribbean nations including Jamaica.
On his part, Mr. Maldonado noted tourism is one of the areas that two countries can work together to bolster economic cooperation between them.
He agreed in principle the call by Ghana to support reforms at the UN to give a permanent seat to Africa at the UN Security Council.
Dominica Republic is a multi-racial country with white, black and East Asia including Chinese and Japanese. Spanish is the official language of the 10.7 million of the second largest Caribbean Island after Cuba. It is the most visited destination by tourists in the Caribbean.
United Arab Emirates
Another meeting held by Ghana's top most diplomat, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey on the margins of the 74th UN General Assembly was the United Arab Emirates Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashimy.
The two countries resolved to waive visa for Diplomatic and Service passport holders of their citizens.The Madam Hashimy ceased the occasion to extend an invitation to President Akufo-Addo for a state visit to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.
She lauded Ghana for political and economic stability and pledged her country's preparedness to invest in the Ghanaian economy. On her part, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said Ghana is now the hub of the newly formed African Continental Free Trade Area and it will be a win-win situation for investors from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to invest in Ghana.
She added that tourism, manufacturing, infrastructure are some of the areas the two countries can collaborate to deepen their bilateral and economic relations.
There are about ten thousand Ghanaians working the emirates and the last couple of years have seen the two countries opening embassies in their respective capitals, Accra and Abu Dhabi as well as a consulate in Dubai.
Bulgaria:
"Ghana's relationship with Bulgaria has not been up to expectation after 1966. The relationship was revived in 2007 but it went cold again but now we want to strengthen it", says the minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
President Akufo-Addo, was instrumental in reviving the relationship between the countries when he was foreign minister in 2007 and even visited Sofia, the capital.
Now Accra and Sofia have affirmed their determination to improve their long standing relations in education, culture, ICT, trade and investment.
Discussions between the Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reforms and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Ekaterina Zaharieva also focused bilateral consultations at diplomatic levels that will constitute a useful mechanism for promoting cooperation on regional and international issues.
She recalled Accra and Sofia during the era of president Nkrumah and Prime Minister Todor Zhikov.
Ghana's Foreign Minister, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and H.E. Miguel Octavio Vargas Maldonado, Foreign Affairs Minister of the Dominican Republic both assured of the desire of their two countries to promote and strengthen ties of Friendship and Cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual respect for each other's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity as well as non-interference in the internal affairs of each other.
