Italy, Germany pledge closer political, economic ties with Ghana
Ms Carpini gave an assurance that she would collaborate with the government to take the historic relations between Ghana and Italy to a higher level.
For instance, she said, during her duty tour, she would work with the government to settle all outstanding issues with the Ghana Private Sector Development Fund to facilitate the disbursement of funds to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
She conveyed special greetings and a congratulatory message from the Italian President, Mr Giorgia Napolitano, to President Mahama on his election.
President Mahama described Ghana-Italy relations as very historic and affirmed the government's resolve to deepen political and technical cooperation between them.
For instance, he said, the Italian government had been supportive of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and provided 500,000 euros for the Roll Back Malaria Programme which had reduced the spread of malaria by about 80 per cent in some areas.
The President expressed the hope that despite the economic crisis in Europe, there was still room for Italy to expand technical cooperation with Ghana.
When it was his turn to present his letters of credence, the 58-year-old Ambassador of Germany to Ghana commended Ghana for its tremendous economic growth rate which had catapulted the country into a middle-income status.
Dr Schimkoreit said the current economic status of Ghana was an opportunity for Germany to deepen its economic ties with Ghana for the benefit of their people.
She gave an assurance that she would collaborate with the government to intensify Germany’s economic and political relations with Ghana.
She delivered special greetings and congratulatory messages from the President of Germany, Mr Joachim Gauck, and Chancellor Angela Merkel to President Mahama.
Responding, President Mahama said the relations between Ghana and Germany dated back to the 1960s and indicated that Germany was one of Ghana's good trade partners.
He mentioned skills training, capacity building and infrastructure development as some of the areas that Germany had been extending assistance to Ghana.
On trade, he said the total value of trade between Ghana and Germany was one billion euros.
For instance, he said, Ghana exported 29 per cent of its produce to Germany, while it imported 10 per cent of its imports from Germany.
In the area of governance, President Mahama said the GTZ of Germany had supported training programmes for Members of Parliament, staff of Parliament and journalists.
Besides, he said, the Friedrich Egbert and the Friedrich Neuman foundations had supported governance programmes and indicated that the KAIPTC had also benefited from the support of the government of Germany.
Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru
