Ghana, Morocco pledge to strengthen relations
Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has expressed her intention to collaborate with the Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Imane Ouaadil, to revive the bilateral relations between the two countries for mutual benefits.
At a meeting in Accra during which they conferred on areas of mutual cooperation between the two countries, Ms Ayorkor Botchwey congratulated Ms Ouaadil on her appointment as the Ambassador designate of the Kingdom of Morocco to Ghana.
The meeting, which took place in Accra last Thursday, formed part of efforts to strengthen bilateral and economic relations between the two countries, which date back several decades.
“Our bilateral relations reached a significant milestone in February 2015, with the inauguration of the Ghana-Morocco Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC) in Rabat," she said.
Stressing on the conducive investment climate in Ghana, she appealed to the Moroccan envoy to encourage more Moroccan businesses to invest in Ghana.
Economic relations
Ms Botchwey also called for a deepening of economic relations between Ghana and Morocco, especially between the private sectors of the two countries, in the light of the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which is supposed to hold a lot of promise and prospects for intra-African trade.
She said Ghana was currently prioritising industrialisation to ensure sustainable development, which had informed the introduction of a number of policies that partners such as Morocco could take advantage of.
Ms Botchwey mentioned the One district, One factory as one of those major areas where Moroccan investors could take advantage of.
The minister expressed gratitude to Morocco for contributing to Ghana's human resource development by offering scholarships to young Ghanaians to study in Moroccan universities.
She lauded the country for prioritising vocational education in its human resource development support to Ghana and emphasised that it was in tandem with Ghana’s own current educational reforms.
Human resource support
Ms Botchwey said the government was making a lot of investment into technical and vocational education because it had identified the sector as a major pillar to accelerate sustainable development.
“I acknowledge and we appreciate the upcoming visit of the Director-General of the Office of Vocational Training and Employment Promotion of Morocco, Madam Loubna Trich, to Ghana in September,” she said.
“I hope that her visit will facilitate greater cooperation between our two countries in the area of vocational and technical education/ training,” she added.
She applauded the Kingdom of Morocco for rejoining the African Union and assured the country of Ghana's commitment to the ideals and values of the union.
Cooperation
Ms Ouaadil assured the minister that she would continue the good works of her predecessors to further enhance and strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
She said with the support of the various public and private sector officers she was going to facilitate the implementation of various areas of cooperation between the two countries as contained in about 27 memorandums of understanding signed between the two countries when the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, visited President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“I plan, therefore, to meet with all such persons as possible as I can, particularly the ministers in charge of the various agreements," she said.
She said she would continue to consult the foreign minister in the delivery of the Ghana-Morocco cooperation and assured Ghana that her doors would always remain open to deliberations on how to boost Ghana-Morocco cooperation.
Writer’s email doreen.andoh@graphic.com.gh