Ghana needs to reciprocate goodwill

Accra, Sept 21, GNA -- Ghanaians should reciprocate the goodwill she was enjoying from other countries to ensure that she would continue to enjoy the loans and grants that were needed for development. Dr Adjei-Barwuah, Ghana's Ambassador to Japan, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency at the Kotoka International Airport when he arrived in Accra for some official duties said: "If we as a country do not make it a point to sell, we would not develop that much."

He noted that the time had come for Ghana to take advantage of such goodwill and make great leaps towards national progress saying "we need to re-think ourselves as a nation in terms of where we want to go". Touching on Ghana's relations with Japan, Dr Adjei-Barwuah said the number of Japanese sponsored projects in Ghana had increased over the past few years, adding that this had a lot to do with Japan's understanding of the Ghana's goals.

He said the recent visit by the Japanese Prime Minister to Ghana had exposed Ghana to Japan and opened a channel of accelerated trade, and that a lot of Japanese businessmen had since shown a great deal of interest in Ghana.

Dr Adjei-Barwuah reminded those who travelled outside the country that the embassies could only be of help in times of trouble if they as travellers comported themselves.

He noted that often Ghanaians, who had travelled to other countries, would blatantly violate the laws of their host country and yet expected Ghana's embassy in that country to go to their aid. Dr Adjei-Barwuah reminded Ghanaians abroad that the embassies also had to operate within rules and regulations and had no power to rescue people, who had fallen foul of the law.