Ghana and Mexico hold consultation on strengthening bilateral ties

Ghana and Mexico, Wednesday, held their second consultation under the Bilateral Political Consultations Mechanism towards building a stronger bond.

Mr Charles Owiredu, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration co-chaired the meeting with Mr Julian Ventura, his Mexican counterpart.

They discussed regional and global issues of common interest and reiterated the commitment of their respective governments to multilateralism and international law, a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, on Wednesday, said.

The meeting, held via video conferencing, was a follow up to the first, held in Accra in August 2019.

"It was an important step towards forging a stronger and sustainable political dialogue between the two countries," it said.

"Since then, the level of collaboration has been strengthened over a broader range of issues spanning education, agriculture and commerce" .

The two sides also supported the development of closer links between their societies.

The deliberations, the statement said, highlighted the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, in Accra, and agreed on the need to maximise its benefits by leveraging the close ties they shared.

They also charged their respective authorities to explore concrete cooperation schemes, including through the use of virtual meetings and seminars, it said.

"While discussing global efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, the two Deputy Ministers agreed on the need to maintain a spirit of mutual solidarity and stressed the urgency of attending to the needs of the most vulnerable populations," it said.

The statement said Mexico, as a recently-elected non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2021-2022, reiterated its commitment to act with transparency and openness while maintaining a close dialogue with its African partners, in particular, on the issues on the Council´s agenda that most directly affected them.

It said the two governments agreed to maintain frequent informal consultations among the relevant offices in their respective capital cities, as well as between their Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York.

Deputy Secretary Ventura reiterated the standing invitation for Mr Owiredu to visit Mexico City as a reciprocal visit to that of his visit to Ghana, to hold further consultations under the bilateral mechanism.