Ghana pushes for free visa between China, Turkey and 3 others

Barring any unforseable glitch, Ghanaians would soon be permitted to freely enter the Republic of China, Sudan, Cuba, Seychelles and the Republic of Turkey to visit or transact any business without Visa.

Nationals of the said countries would also enjoy same.

The agreements for such move are currently before Parliament for ratification.

Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Emmanuel Kwasi Bandua, who moved the motion for the adoption of his Committee’s report on “agreements of waiver of Visa requirements between Ghana and five countries”, told the House that the move has become necessary due to emerging trends in the globalized world.

“Mr. Speaker, the Committee noted that emerging trends in this globalized world necessitated the building of synergies and the strengthening of relations between and among nations,” he noted in his report which was presented to the House at a sitting on Tuesday, October 25, 2016.

The agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is on mutual Visa exemption for holders of Diplomatic, Official and Service passports.

That between the Government of the Republic of Seychelles bothers on short stay Visa exemption for holders of Diplomatic, Official and Service Passports.

Also, the agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the Republic of Sudan bothers on Visa exemption for holders of Diplomatic, Official and Service passports.

Furthermore, Ghana’s agreement with the Republic of Cuba centers of waiver of Visa requirements for holders of Diplomatic, Official and Service passports while that of the agreement between Ghana and the Republic of Turkey focuses on mutual abolition of Visas for holders of Diplomatic passports.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hannah Tetteh commenting on the deals, told Members the agreements do not impose any financial obligation on the parties neither will any country obtain direct financial gains from their implementation.

Besides, the agreements do not impose obligations on state parties to admit peple who are considered to be of questionable character into their territories.

“They have been fashioned in a way as to create a win-win situation for the parties as they open up the economies of state parties to each other and the resultant deepened collaboration is expected to yield tremendous benefits to the citizens of the state parties through improved relations, improved trade and improved cooperation,” she noted.