[ 2021-02-10 ]

Ayorkor Botchwey holds bilateral talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister

By Iddi Yire

Accra, Feb. 09, GNA - Madam Shirley Ayorkor
Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration designate, has held a bilateral
meeting with Mr Mikhail Bogdanov, Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, in
Accra.

Mr Bogdanov, who is also the Special Presidential
Representative of Russia for the Middle East and
Africa, led a delegation comprising Russian
Foreign Ministry officials and private business
people to Ghana to explore business opportunities
in the mining and related sectors in Ghana.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey recalled the historic and
enduring relations existing between Ghana and
Russia and expressed the hope that the visit of
the Russian delegation would invigorate the
relations for the benefit of the two countries as
new opportunities were identified.

She, further, recalled with fond memories her
visit to Moscow in August 2019, at the instance of
her Russian counterpart, Mr Sergey Lavrov, which
further strengthened relations between the two
countries and the participation of President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the Russia-Africa Summit
held at Sochi in October 2019.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey acknowledged the immense
contribution that Russia had made and continued to
make towards the socio-economic development of
Ghana and indicated that Russia’s award of
scholarships to many Ghanaian students over the
years to study in Russia had produced essential
human resource capacity to facilitate the
development of the country.

The Minister-Designate expressed concern that in
recent years the Scholarship Secretariat of Ghana
and the Russian Mission had had some differences
in the award of scholarships and call for a speedy
resolution of the difficulties.

She requested that Russia increased the number of
scholarships provided yearly to about one hundred
to consolidate the enduring friendship between the
two countries.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey mentioned the potential for
cooperation between Russian diplomatic training
institutions and the Ministry’s Foreign Service
Institute, which was nearing completion.

She requested the Russian side to consider
offering short courses in Russian Language
training to Officers of the Ministry to facilitate
interactions between the two Foreign Ministries.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey stated Ghana’s interest
in initiating discussions with the Russian
Government on the acquisition of the Russian made
Vaccine, Sputnik-V as soon as possible, to help
Ghana fight the COVID-19 infections.

She welcomed the interest shown by GBP Global
Resources, to invest in Ghana and indicated that
the gold refinery at Tarkwa, which was built by
the former Soviet Union, could be worth
considering as an investment opportunity.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey added that the interest of
GBP Global Resources in engaging in the gold
refinery business was in harmony with the
Government of Ghana’s agenda of value addition
to its vast natural resources to promote economic
development and provide jobs for the burgeoning
youth.

She assured the Russian envoy of Ghana’s
commitment to expediting the processes involved to
enable GBP Global Resources to invest in gold,
manganese and other related industries.

She said the Russia-Africa Summit boosted
relations with countries in Africa and invited the
Russian Envoy to indicate Russia’s policy for
engaging with Africa, following the successful
Summit.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey acknowledged that despite
the excellent relations between Ghana and Russia,
trade volumes between the two countries had been
low; and disclosed that the start of trading under
the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
would provide a big opportunity for Russian
businesses to take advantage of the 1.2 billion
African market size, with Ghana as the entry
point.

She bemoaned the low levels of investment between
the two countries and called for more Russian
investments in Ghana, especially in the field of
energy and the petrochemical industry, following
the entry into the Ghanaian market of LUKOIL and
ROSNEFT.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey provided assurances of
Ghana’s commitment towards negotiating with
Russia, the Agreement on Investment Promotion and
Protection as well as the Agreement on the
Avoidance of Double Taxation to guarantee Russian
investors the security of their investments.

She said as a means of enhancing bilateral
relations, Ghana was earnestly preparing to host
the Fourth Session of the Permanent Joint
Commission for Cooperation this year, and stated
that Ghana had received the suggestions from
Russia regarding the April meeting to discuss the
outcome of the 3rd Session and the holding of the
4th Session in October 2021.

Mr Bogdanov, who commended Ghana’s participation
in the last Russia-Africa Summit, also
congratulated President Akufo-Addo on his
re-election for a second term as head of ECOWAS.

He noted that his country had already started the
preparation for the next Russia-Africa Summit,
which would take place in Africa.

Source - GNA

... go Back