Ghana and Algeria to re-activate Commission

Accra, Feb. 29, GNA - Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, returned home on Thursday night after a two-day bilateral visit to Algeria from February 27-28.

A statement issued in Accra on Friday said, the visit was at the invitation of his Algerian counterpart, Mr Mourad Medelci.

It said the two ministers reviewed the bilateral, political and economic relations between Ghana and Algeria, as well as pertinent global and regional issues such as the on-going crisis in Kenya and the general peace and security situation in Africa.

They expressed satisfaction with the state of bilateral political relations, but acknowledged that the two countries had to do more to raise the level of their economic relations.

Mr Osei-Adjei, who is also Member of Parliament for Ejisu-Juaben, identified fisheries; food and meat production; construction; oil and gas; information and communication technology; and investments as some of the areas in which the two countries could collaborate and cooperate. In this regard, it was agreed that the Ghana - Algeria Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation would be re-activated, with a meeting tentatively scheduled for September this year.

The statement said the Commission would examine all aspects of cooperation between the two countries and work out the necessary legal framework for the advancement of this cooperation.

It would also establish an arrangement for periodic consultations between Foreign Ministries of the two countries.

Mr Osei-Adjei was also received in audience by Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Belkadem, during which the need to deepen the political and economic relations between Ghana and Algeria was further emphasized.

He paid a visit to the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism, an African Union institution.

Mr Osei-Adjei assured the Director and Senior Staff of the Centre that Ghana would continue to support their mission of helping African States develop capacity for counter-terrorism through analysis and the sharing of intelligence.