The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (MP) has paid an official visit to India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Madam Sushma Swaraj.
Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey held fruitful bilateral talks with her counterpart in New Delhi which will go a long way to further enhance the existing cordial relations between the two countries for their socio-economic development. The Minister said among other things that India had agreed to support Ghana to train her youth to acquire technical and vocational skills. She acknowledged that the exponential growth being witnessed in the Indian economy was largely due to the development of her small and medium scale enterprises which is hinged on technical and vocational training.
For her part, the Indian External Affairs Minister, Madam Sushma Swaraj said India was ready to enhance bilateral relations with Ghana and also support the country to achieve her dream of adding value to her raw materials.
The two leaders touched on the operations of the Komenda Sugar Factory and the need to plant enough sugar cane to supply the factory. It would be recalled that Eximbank of India granted a loan facility of 34 Million Dollars to Ghana for the construction the Komenda Sugar Factory.
Two Memoranda of Understanding to improve Bilateral Ties on Technical and Cultural Cooperation as well as Standards of Goods Produced for the International Market were signed by the two countries. Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey signed on behalf of the Ghana Government while her counterpart signed on behalf of India.
During the visit, Hon. Botchwey also attended a business seminar on the theme “Ghana a land of golden opportunities” which was focused on Government’s “One District One Factory” initiative. The Minister shared with members of the Indian business community the opportunities for investment in the Ghanaian economy. She said trade between Ghana and India is growing exponentially and that there was the need to ensure that it would be sustained for the mutual benefit of both countries.
Ghana’s High Commissioner to India, Mr. Mike Ocquaye Jnr. said although Ghana-India trade volumes hit 3.6 Billion Dollars in 2017, he was optimistic that the figure would increase to 5 Billion Dollars by 2020. Data from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre(GIPC) indicates that in 2017, India had a total of 800 investments in the Ghanaian economy which made it the second largest investor in the country.
