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Technocrats Commend Chinese Government for offering training opportunities to Ghanaians.

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Ghanaian technocrats who benefited from various training programmes in China have lauded the Chinese government for its support to Ghana in the area of capacity building for Ghana’s human resource.

They described the training programmes as useful, relevant and important.

They called for the expansion of the programmes to more technical areas to hone specific skills of Ghanaians to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the country.

Sharing their experience at a meeting with the Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy and his staff at the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office in Accra, the various beneficiaries of the programmes expressed gratitude to the Chinese Government for the support.

The Chinese bilateral and multilateral training programmes are fully funded by the Chinese Government.

Each year hundreds of Ghanaians are sent to China for short term training in specific fields such as agriculture, trade and industry, media, transportation, tourism, health and education.

The Economic and  Commercial Counselor Chai Zhijing said China has a good relationship with Ghana.

“Ghana is one of China’s traditional partners in Africa and the two nations are doing well to expand bilateral ties,” he stated.

“So far so good. Between the two governments we are okay. May be Chinese and Ghanaians doing their daily private businesses might come across  some issues or problems but that is inevitable”

On Chinese engaging in illegal mining popularly known as “galamsey”, Counselor Zhijing said Ghana needs to have a good policy to regulate the mining industry then it can to a great extent eliminate the menace.

He noted that relevant laws are under review and news that the ban on small scale mining will be lifted soon is an indication that some progress has been made with regard to the new policy direction.

He explained that the Chinese Embassies always encourage Chinese investors to always obey the laws and regulations in countries where they go to do business.

Counselor Zhijing said the major focus for Ghana should be how to woo foreign investors into the country and this is what the government has been campaigning for all the time but how to do it scientifically and correctly is the issue.

He advised government to make the small scale mining more appealing and properly regulated after lifting the ban to attract more investors.

The Economic and Commercial Counselor Zhijing entreated beneficiaries of the Chinese government training programmes to put the knowledge and experience acquired to proper use for the benefit of Ghana.

The Third Secretary at the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office Li Yu Heng said the training programmes are Chinese Government’s initiatives organised in consultation with the Government of Ghana aimed at sharing with Ghanaians how China is achieving results with the implementation of its developmental initiatives.

 He explained that China was helped by some developed countries in its development drive and so the current President Xi Jinping decided to open China to developing countries to visit China to study how China is progressing in the development of its various sectors.

Li Yu Heng stated that over the last ten years over six thousand Ghanaian technocrats benefited from various trainings in China.

He disclosed that in 2016 alone one thousand two hundred Ghanaian technicians and officials went to China and about Nine hundred were trained in 2017.

 He said China is sharing it’s evelopment experience with African countries on how to grow their economies, industrialise, improve upon medical care, provide quality education to citizens and modernise agriculture.

Li Yu Heng said from 2012 the Chinese Government has also been providing scholarships for Ghanaian students to study in China.

He explained that the scholarship programmes give the students opportunity  to stay longer in China to acquire knowledge in fields that will help them to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of Ghana.

The Third Secretary at the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office revealed that last year 25 Ghanaian students were sponsored and 60 students will receive scholarships this year to undergo training in various disciplines in Chinese Universities.

Li Yu Heng stated that for bilateral programmes usually Ghanaian technocrats and artisans are sent to China however this year there is a new arrangement where Chinese experts will come to Ghana to train Ghanaians.

He said for example experts in the growing and use of bamboo and raten will be in the country to teach about hundred Ghanaian artisans how to use bamboo to manufacture various products.

Li Yu Heng pointed out that China is a developing country just like Ghana and does not have enough resources but efforts are being made to expand the programmes and scholarships to benefit more people.

Augustine Safi, a Deputy Director at the Human Resource Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry said the training programmes are useful and relevant to the socio-economic development of Ghana.

“You cannot downplay the knowledge, skills and experience acquired by the participants at the training programmes,” Mr Safi stated.

He noted that  the industrial parks programmes that took place this year in China was a great event that opened participants’ understanding to how to properly set up industrial parks as part of an industrialisation agenda.

 “This is a new area that Ghanaians lack knowledge,  skills and understanding. With the training the participants have positioned themselves to help Ghana in the establishment of industrial parks across the country,” he pointed out.

Mr. Safi who is the Coordinator of the training programmes at the Ministry of Trade and Industry commended the Chinese Government for the support and called for the expansion of the programmes to more technical areas for more Ghanaian to benefit.

 He appealed to the heads of government agencies and institutions to give beneficiaries of the Chinese programmes the opportunity to implement what they have learnt to ensure that they contribute to national development.

Story by: Dominic Hlordzi

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