Accra, Oct.16, GNA – Mrs Diana Acconcia, the
Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Ghana, on Tuesday
presented Letters of Credence to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the
Jubilee House in Accra.
“Your Excellency, it is an honour to present
the letters by which the President of the European Council, Mr Donald
Tusk, and the President of the European Commission, Mr
Jean-Claude Junckerhave, accredited me as Ambassador of the European Union to
the Republic of Ghana”.
These were in a press release signed by Mrs
Esi Asante, Press Communication and Information Officer of the Delegation of
the European Union (EU) to Ghana, and copied the Ghana News Agency.
It said the European Union had a long standing
partnership with Ghana under the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement and that over the
last 40 years, there had been an active and friendly cooperation and dialogue
between the two.
“We value highly our close partnership with
Ghana and we share a broad common agenda to promote peace and security,
regional integration, democracy, rule of law and human rights as well as to
tackle global challenges such as climate change,” it said.
The EU had also been a major provider of
development aid to Ghana and to the African Continent in general, and had
supported Ghana’s development priorities with substantial financial assistance
over the years, the release said.
It described the President of Ghana as a
strong promoter of ‘Ghana Beyond Aid – adding; “I could not agree more with
you. The EU is changing the focus of its relations with Africa from a
donor-receiver relationship to a partnership based on common interests and
values.”
“President Juncker has called it an Alliance
for Sustainable Investment and Jobs”.
The EU wanted to bring more private investment
to Africa and would mobilise traditional and innovative financial instruments
to work directly with the private sector to provide the infrastructure Africa
needed to create jobs for her young people, the release said.
“I have no doubt, Your Excellency, that Ghana
will be a key partner to implement this ambitious plan. Ghana has recently
experienced strong growth and developed its economy, becoming a lower middle
income country and improving the well-being and prosperity of its people,” it
said.
The release said Ghana had great assets to
become a privileged destination for private investment as it was politically
stable due to the commitment to democracy and rule of law by successive governments,
saying, it had natural resources and fertile land, young and dynamic population
as well as government with a focus on development and on creating a conducive
environment for business.
“And let us not forget that Ghana also
benefits from the Economic Partnership Agreement that allows Ghanaian companies
to export to the EU free from duties and quotas and this can be a further
incentive for investors to choose Ghana as a hub for their manufacturing
activities in the Region.”
It noted that Ghana could become a driving
force and a leader for the development of the African Continent, adding that
the EU was looking forward to working with Ghana to make this happen and
support her in her efforts to consolidate the middle income status.
“The partnership between Ghana and the EU is
not only about promoting economic growth but also sustainable economic
development,” it said.
“We are both committed to fighting against
Climate Change and implementing the Paris Agreement. We are both determined to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – with your personal involvement as
co-chair of the group of SDG Advocates – and the EU will support Ghana by
integrating the Government’s SDG objectives in our budget support programme.”
The EU, it said, was working with Ghana to
issue licences to make sure that timber exported to the EU only came from
sustainable sources as well as fight against illegal fishing and depletion of
ocean resources.
“To maximise the benefits from economic
growth, good governance is paramount. I would like to commend the Government’s
engagement to improve public finance management and tackle the problem of
corruption,” the release said.
It commended Ghana for the creation of the
Office of the Special Prosecutor and the presentation of the Right to
Information Bill before Parliament, saying they were promising developments and
the EU was following their progress closely.
Touching on education, the release said no
sustainable development was possible without building on education and skills
for young people to access qualified jobs adding that the Government’s effort
to boost secondary education showed its long term vision for Ghana.
It prayed for continuous working relationship
between EU and Ghana to strengthen the multilateral institutions.
Mrs Acconcia pledged her commitment to
ensuring the realisation of the partnership objectives and projects in which
Ghana and the European Union were working.
GNA