A seven-member US congressional delegation on Monday called on President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Osu Castle as part of a six-day tour of Africa to promote free trade, health care and other strategic development interests.
The delegation, led by Mr J.C Watts Jr., the fourth ranking Republican member of The House of Representatives, will leave Ghana on Tuesday for Nigeria, Morocco and Senegal after meeting with the business community in Ghana and a broad section of the people to discuss areas of co-operation.
Mr Watts said the visit, the first stop in West Africa, is to explore ways of enhancing bilateral relations.
The delegation held a one-hour meeting with the President, the Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama and some Ministers to highlight the development problems of the country and what form of assistance the US could give.
President Kufuor briefed the delegation about the HIPC initiative which he said was the only option for the government since the country could not balance its external debt of over 300 million dollars.
"This constitutes a major crisis for a young government barely three months in office."
He said the unemployment rate is about 30 per cent whilst the growth of the industrial and agricultural sector is very minimal.
President Kufuor said the democratic process initiated at independence in 1957 has suffered 27 years of military intervention until the 2000 elections, which replaced for the first time a constitutionally elected government with another.
He called on the US to support his administration to promote the rule of law and market economy through a dynamic private sector initiative with a zero tolerance for corruption.
Alhaji Mahama expressed the hope that the visit would bring greater understanding and co-operation between the two countries and promote the priority development objectives of Ghana.
Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance said the NPP inherited an economy, which was plagued by high inflation rate, and low GDP, hence the need for the US to be sympathetic to the HIPC initiative.
Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Regional Integration and Economic Planning said the congressional team could facilitate the efforts of Ghana to build a successful example of wealth creation and stability in Africa by being advocates of the initiative in congress.
Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor Minister of Defence said the numerous conflicts in the sub-region is threatening investor confidence in Ghana and called for further security co-operation with the US to boost peace, security and regional integration.
