Ghana's 54th Independence day Anniv in Prague

SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, AMBASSADOR VICTOR EMMANUEL SMITH, ON OCCASION OF THE 54TH ANNIVERSARY OF GHANA’S INDEPENDENCE, AT THE HOTEL PRAHA, CZECH REPUBLIC, THURSDAY, MARCH 10TH, 2011

Excellency, Guest of Honor, Mr. Ladislav Mravec, Director. Foreign Affairs, Office of the President, Prague Castle, Excellencies, Colleague Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to thank all of you who have made time to join Ghana celebrate our 54th Independence Anniversary. I am particularly indebted to Mr. Mravec, who, in spite of his exceptionally busy schedule at the Presidency, accepted to be our Guest of honor today. For those of our distinguished guests who may not know much about Ghana, except of course on the world football stage, permit me, Excellencies, to very briefly expose other attributes of Ghana which was once called the Gold Coast on the west coast of Africa. Located at latitude 8 degrees N and 2 degrees W, close to the equator and the Greenwich Meridian, with a geographical land area of 92,000 sq.miles, our country shares borders on the east with Togo, on the west with Cote D’Ivoire, North with Burkina Faso and south by the Gulf of Guinea. Ghana has a population of 24m people, with Gold, Cocoa, Timber, Tourism and more recently Oil and gas as our major foreign exchange earners. Our GDP is about $15.5bn(2009 estimates). Besides these economic attributes, our ever- improving democratic credentials, good governance, political stability and the proverbial, warm Ghanaian hospitality is fast making Ghana a major attractive investment destination in Africa.

Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we commemorate 54 years of independence from the British Colonial rule, it is only proper that we pay due cognizance of the fact that Ghana, the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957, did so through the instrumentality of our great leader and first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who did not only champion African liberation and unity, but advocated diplomacy and dialogue in the conduct of international relations. Over the last 18 years we have managed, as a united people, to sustain a relatively orderly democratic process which has greatly improved our Country’s democratic credentials in the eyes of the international community. Recent developments bare clear testimony to this fact. Indeed, the substantial amount of resources and support that China and Japan have placed at the disposal of Ghana in response to our President’s recent visit to the far east is one such testimony. Again, it is not by chance that the last three Presidents of the United States of America made important Policy Statements on Africa from Ghana. This recognition, coupled with recent socio-economic successes have in fact, positioned Ghana as a credible investment destination and indeed a reliable gateway to Africa. Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,

Ghana’s relations with the Czech Republic date back over 50 years when our First President Dr Kwame Nkrumah exchanged visits with then Czechoslovakia President Antonin Novotny which resulted in the establishment of diplomatic Missions in our respective countries. Since my assumption of duty last year as Ambassador, Ghana-Czech relations have been given a boost, in both political and economic sense and one notable event behind this state of affairs was the successful visit of our Vice President John Dramani Mahama to the Ghana-Czech Trade and Investment Forum held in Prague in November last year. The visit of our Vice President to Prague was indeed significant, as it gave Ghana a great opportunity to make certain representations at the highest level to both the President and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. And also coming closely on the heels of the visit of the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, it underscored the importance Ghana attaches to its bilateral and economic relations with the Czech Republic as well as our resolve to exploit the vast potential for further enhancing relations. The subsequent meeting of Presidents Klaus and Mills in Tripoli, Libya on the margins of the 3rd Africa-EU Summit, all point to the consolidation of relations. It is my personal resolve to leave no stone unturned to make President Klaus’ visit to Ghana a reality during his tenure as Head of State. Excellencies and Distinguished Guests, On the economic front, Ghana’s discovery of oil in commercial quantities and the subsequent pumping of oil from the Jubilee offshore field in December last year added Ghana to the list of oil producing countries. This discovery is yet another area where Czech expertise could be harnessed for the mutual benefit of our two countries. The Ghana Mission is therefore, working closely with various stakeholders to forge closer economic ties between the Czech business community and Ghanaian entrepreneurs. Our Government is confident that it can count on the cooperation and support of the Czech Government and its people in her efforts to harness its resources for national growth and development. I wish to use this opportunity to once again invite the Czech business community to seriously consider Ghana as a viable investment destination.

Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, Let me end here by conveying the best wishes of our President, His Excellency, Professor John Evans Atta Mills to His Excellency, President Vaclav Klaus for his personal well-being and success and to the success and prosperity of the government and people of the Czech Republic. I thank you for your kind attention.