President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday held bilateral talks with visiting Czech Republic President Petr Pavel at the Flagstaff House in Accra.
During the meeting, the two leaders signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Political Consultation, a Bilateral Air Services Agreement, also known as Air Transport Agreement, between Ghana and the Czech Republic.
In addition, they discussed the need to expand the frontiers of their relations and cooperation with the Czech Republic, both at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
At the bilateral level, note was taken of potential for trade and economic cooperation.
Addressing the Presidential Press Corps after their meeting, President Mahama acknowledged the cordial and long-standing relations that had existed between Ghana and the Czech Republic, which dates back to 1961 when they opened diplomatic missions in their respective countries and had been reinforced over the decades through the exchange of high-level visits and opening of resident missions in our capitals.
“This visit marks another milestone in the long-standing cordial relations that exist between our two countries and reaffirm the political, economic and cultural cooperation that lie at the heart of Ghana’s diplomatic engagement with the Czech Republic.
“Our two countries share deep respect for democratic values and governance and human rights, and by nurturing these shared principles we can engage in fruitful dialogue, exchange best practices and foster mutual understanding,” President Mahama said.
He expressed the hope that the implementation of these MOUs would reinvigorate and spearhead cooperation in various sectors between their two countries.
President Mahama therefore urged the private sectors of the two countries to come together to explore possible avenues for cooperation in various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
He said, he was happy to note that on Wednesday, April 9, there was going to be a business roundtable between Ghanaian and Czech businessmen.
On trade, the two leaders noted that through trade and investment, this could serve as a bedrock of their economic relations, and more could be done to increase the low levels of trade between their two countries.
In that regard, President Mahama noted that the African market had a population of over 1.3 billion people and that he extended an invitation to the business community in the Czech Republic to partner with their Ghanaian counterparts to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
At the multilateral level, President Mahama noted the longstanding and excellent tradition of cooperation between their two countries at various international fora, including the United Nations, and expressed the desire for such cooperation to continue.
This, he said, includes voting on issues that were of concern to both, but also to support each other’s candidates that were vying for international positions.
“In that regard, I called on Czech to support our candidature of Ambassador Mohamed Adam to the position of Secretary General of the United Nations Tourism Organization and reciprocally for us to support the Czech Republic for membership of the Security Council,” he said.
President Mahama assured President Pavel of his confidence in Dr Adam’s ability to lead and cooperate with his colleagues to bring on board a strategic vision for the UN Tourism Organization.
He commended the Government of the Czech Republic for supporting Ghana’s healthcare sector through MEDEVAC Health Projects and the construction of 12 40-bed capacity hospitals and 12 units of two-bedroom semi-detached houses for hospital staff for some beneficiary communities in Ghana.
President Mahama raised the issue of the 50 Bridges Project, which had been stalled by the Debt Exchange Programme, urged the two countries to explore ways of re-engineering the project to complete the 50 Bridges Programme and implement the second phase of the 100 Bridges.
President Pavel is the second Czech Republic President in the history of diplomatic relations between the two countries to visit Ghana.
On his part, President Pavel said the previous visit of the then Czechoslovakian President happened more than 60 years ago and that it was really a long tradition, which they could build on.
“We see Ghana as a traditional partner in this region. It is our key partner in terms of economic exchange,” President Pavel said.
“Our exchange reached more than 33 million US dollars, and it was the second largest exchange within a decade, despite some financial difficulties that your country is temporarily going through.”
President Pavel said they were committed to extend that cooperation in areas that would bring benefit to both countries.
He said they believed in cooperation that creates and maintains added value in the countries where it was produced.
‘It means we want to cooperate at the level of sharing, building common capabilities, and leaving the value here in Ghana to support your industry, your agriculture, and support your society,” he said.
He said, he brought with him a delegation of part of their business, especially regarding food processing, healthcare, mining, agriculture, and water purification; saying that however, there were many more to take part in cooperation in Ghana.
GNA