Ghana, Israel pledge to deepen cooperation
Ghana and Israel have agreed to deepen cooperation in the areas of agriculture, education, health and cyber security, and also support each other’s candidature for positions in international organisations.
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Both countries have realised the potential and the need to deepen cooperation in those areas and identify new areas for collaboration.
The agreement was made during a closed-door engagement between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and a delegation from Israel, led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen.
Mr Cohen is on a two-day working visit to Ghana.
The visit marks his first-ever travel to Ghana and the first visit by an Israeli Foreign Minister in almost 10 years.
Among the Israeli delegation was the Deputy Director of Foreign Minister Diplomatic Bureau, Amrani Yosef, and the Director of Department Africa, Economic Division, Leo Vinovezky.
Agreement
As part of the engagement, both ministers signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the field of Environmental Protection between the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and Innovation of Ghana and the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Israel.
That was in view of the importance that the two sides attach to issues of climate change and its effects on the environment.
During the engagement, Ms Botchwey said the two parties recalled the fraternal ties that had existed between their two countries since 1958.
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She also encouraged the Israeli business delegation to take advantage of the expanded opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by investing in Ghana, considering the conducive business environment.
Israel’s contribution
Ms Botchwey also expressed appreciation to the government of Israel for its contribution towards Ghana's socio-economic development, particularly in human resource development through MASHA V Training programmes in health, education, agriculture, entrepreneurship and in innovation.
She said she recognised Israel's contribution towards the infrastructural development in the country, including its assistance in the construction and provision of equipment for the 617-bed University of Ghana Medical Centre which was contributing to efficient healthcare delivery.
Trade
On multilateral issues, she reiterated Ghana's position that the two-state solution remained the most viable path to addressing the Palestinian issue and achieving lasting peace and security in the Middle East.
On trade and investment, she said both parties recognised that trade volumes between the two countries had been low and agreed to work towards expanding the scope of their trade relations.
“In that regard, I urged the Israeli Foreign Minister to encourage the Israeli business community to take advantage of Ghana's political stability and the conducive business environment.”
To that end, I assured my Israeli counterpart that the Government of Ghana had put in place measures under the new GIPC Act 865 to protect their investments,” Ms Botchwey said.
She also expressed the hope that the outcome of the discussions would help to further deepen the relations between Ghana and Israel for the mutual benefit of both countries.