Ghana, Japan to strengthen cooperation

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, have pledged to strengthen the mutual cooperation that exists between the two nations.

The two leaders made the pledge at a meeting at the close of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Japan last Saturday.

According to a statement from the Jubilee House, Prime Minister Abe said Ghana-Japan co-operation had come a long way since the late Dr Hideyo Noguchi laid the foundation for the establishment of relations between the two countries.

He said the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Government of Ghana and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) on the sidelines of TICAD 7 for the establishment of a JETRO-Ghana office in Accra was further proof of the determination of Japan to promote Japanese investment in Ghana.

Mr Abe also said a Ghana-Japan Business Council would soon be launched to encourage more Japanese private sector investors to do business in Ghana.

Commitment

The statement added that the Japanese Prime Minister also expressed the commitment of his country to improve access to health care for all Ghanaians.

He pledged Japan’s support for President Akufo-Addo’s vision of moving Ghana beyond aid, saying the training of some Ghanaians in Japan would help in the creation of technocrats who, at the end of their training, would return to contribute to Ghana's development efforts.

Mr Abe entreated Ghana to lend its support to Japan against North Korea, accusing the latter of breaching a United Nations resolution on the testing of missiles and also abducting Japanese citizens.

He further appealed to Ghana to support Japan in the election of its candidate to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Progress

In response, President Akufo-Addo said Ghana had made tremendous progress in stabilising its economy and, therefore, encouraged Japanese investors to take a special interest in Ghana as the gateway to the West African market.

With the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), coupled with the selection of Ghana as host country for the secretariat, he also urged Japanese investors to consider directing their businesses to Ghana to have access to the continent’s market of some 1.2 billion people.

“We are embarking on an aggressive public-private partnership programme to attract investment to the development of both our road and railway infrastructure.

We are, thus, looking forward to Japan’s participation in these sectors,” he added.
Ghana, President Akufo-Addo reiterated, was a keen believer in multilateralism and would, therefore, not support attempts by any country that violated UN resolutions.

He said the request by the Japanese Prime Minister for Ghana's support for Japan’s ICJ candidature would be duly considered.
The President extended an invitation to Prime Minister Abe to visit Ghana, the statement added.