Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and Mr Dominic Nitiwul, Minister of Defence, held bilateral meetings on Monday with their Portuguese counterparts, Mr Joao Gomes Cravinho and Madam Helena Carreiras respectively, in Accra.
The two Portuguese Ministers are on a two-day visit to Accra in preparation for the State Visit of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to Portugal later this month, which will reaffirm Ghana’s commitment to deepening political, economic, and cultural ties with Portugal.
Briefing the press after the meetings, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said the visit of the two Ministers to Accra was historic in that they were the highest-ranking Government officials from Portugal to visit Ghana.
She said the meetings acknowledged the historical links between the two countries, which date back to the 15th century, when Portuguese sailors first landed on the shores of the Gold Coast, now Ghana, while formal diplomatic relations were established in 1975.
She said they discussed the need to expand the frontiers of their relations and cooperation with Portugal, both at the bilateral and multilateral levels.
“At the bilateral level, we noted the potential for trade and economic cooperation and urged the private sectors of the two countries to come together to explore possible avenues for cooperation in various sectors of Ghana’s economy, in support of Government’s programs such as “Planting for Food and Jobs” and its overall transformation Agenda to promote economic growth and employment generation to help address the rising youth unemployment,” Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said.
“We also acknowledged Portugal’s contribution to Ghana’s maritime within the context of the European Union’s Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS).”
The SWAIMS Programme is a multi-country intervention, covering the entire ECOWAS region under the European Union-West Africa Regional Indicative Programme, with a specific focus on coastal countries.
She said during the two-day visit, Ghana and Portugal would sign a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the SWAIMS programme, which would further contribute to improving maritime security in Ghana’s maritime zone and strengthening maritime governance as part of the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy.
The two sides also agreed to work together at the multilateral level to address challenges such as climate change and food insecurity, which confront the world today.
With regards to trade, Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said although trade and investment serve as the bedrock of their economic relations, growth in overall bilateral trade was skewed in favour of Portugal.
“We noted the African market of 1.3 billion people and extended an invitation to businesses in Portugal to partner with their Ghanaian counterparts to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Mr Joao Gomes Cravinho, the Foreign Minister of Portugal, said their discussions centred on political, economic and security issues; stating that President Akufo-Addo’s pending visit to Portugal later this month would go a long way to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Defence Minister, briefed the guest Ministers on the security situation in the West Africa sub-region and measures being taken by Member States of the Accra Initiative as well as at the level of ECOWAS and the African Union (AU) to address terrorism and violent extremist activities in the sub-region to restore normalcy to the affected countries.
Madam Helena Carreiras, the Portuguese Minister of Defence, pledged her country’s support for the Accra initiative.
Source: GNA
