Japan supports 3 projects with $22.8 million
THE Japanese government has this year granted a total of $22.8 million to Ghana, in aid of three major projects in the country.
They are the food security for underprivileged farmers project, fisheries promotion project and a poverty reduction project.
The Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, announced this in Accra at a reception to mark the 81st birthday of Emperor Akihito of Japan. The birthday of the emperor is observed as a national day of Japan.
The event brought together members of the diplomatic corps, ministers of state, Members of Parliament and other dignitaries.
The minister said diplomatic contacts between Ghana and Japan had been characterised by economic co-operation, international solidarity and regular exchange of high level official visits.
All presidents of Ghana since the promulgation of the Fourth Republic’s Constitution in 1992 have paid official visits to Japan during their tenure of office.
The most recent visit was the one by President John Dramani Mahama, which took place in June 2013, during the 5th Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD V) when the President held fruitful bilateral discussions with the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Shinzo Abe.
Ebola support
Touching on Japanese support towards the fight against the Ebola outbreak, Dr Omane-Boamah expressed appreciation to Japan for its support in the ongoing fight against the disease in some West African countries.
He said Japan had contributed approximately US$150 million towards the containment of the disease and had also expressed commitment to upgrade the capacity of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, to enable it to play a greater role in the country’s Ebola preparedness.
Japanese Ambassador
The Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Kaoru Yoshimura, underlined cordial relations between Japan and Ghana and was hopeful that the bilateral relations between the two nations could be further strengthened both at the national and international levels.
Mr Yoshimura said the Japanese government had extended development assistance to Ghana in many areas, including health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, industry and capacity building, both in the public and private sectors.
He mentioned the Eastern Corridor project as one of Japan’s major infrastructural development assistance to Ghana.
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