[ 2021-02-24 ]

Ayorkor Botchwey appeals to Serbian investors to invest in Ghana
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Regional
Integration-designate, has appealed to Serbian
investors to come and invest in Ghana.








The Foreign Minister-designate, made the appeal on
Tuesday, when Mr Djura Likar, Ambassador of Serbia
to Ghana, paid a courtesy call on her in Accra.

She noted that though bilateral trade between the
two countries was modest, it was her expectation
that it would improve with the coming into force
of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement
(AfCFTA), which would create a huge market of 1.2
billion people, an opportunity for Serbian
investors to explore new opportunities on the
African continent, with Ghana as the entry point.

She urged Serbian investors to take advantage of
the development, identify their areas of interest
and use the conducive business environment in
Ghana as a springboard to access the continental
market.

She mentioned the need for countries such as
Serbia to act as advocates for developing
countries such as Ghana to have access to
affordable vaccines in the global fight against
the COVID-19 pandemic that had badly hit the
global economy and stated that it behoves on
countries to utilise traditional friendships to
jointly battle the pandemic.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey further commended the
Government of Serbia for their continued
collaboration with Ghana and extending vital
support for Africa on the very important matter of
the reform of the UN Security Council.

She recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo was instrumental in the processes
leading to the Ezulwini Consensus and Expressed
the hope that Ghana would continue to count on the
support of Serbia for consensus and work closely
together to move the negotiations forward, but in
the right direction.

She stated that Ghana was looking forward to
working closely with Serbia on the issue of the
Revitalization of the Work of the General assembly
during negotiations at the upcoming 75th session.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey acknowledged the excellent
tradition of cooperation and support for each
other’s candidates for positions at various
multilateral institutions and express the hope
that both countries would continue to cooperate
and support each other in that regard.

She said in the spirit of the aforementioned
tradition, requested support for Ghana’s bid for
a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council
for the period 2022 to 2023 and the Ghanaian
candidature for membership of the United Nations
Board on Narcotic Drugs for the period 2022 to
2025 as well as for membership of the
International Narcotics Control Board for the
period 2022 to 2027.

The Foreign Minister-designate reaffirmed
Ghana’s commitment to enhancing the warm
relations between Ghana and Serbia for mutual
benefit.

She noted that the friendship and cooperation
between Ghana and Serbia, particularly in recent
times, have been marked by the exchange of notable
high-level visits such as the visit to Belgrade by
the former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron
Mike Oquaye in 2018 and the visit to Belgrade in
2019 by herself as Minister for Foreign Affairs,
testify to the growing exchanges between the two
countries.

She expressed the hope that high-level visits
would increase in the coming years to facilitate
closer cooperation and give further impetus for
the common efforts to deepen and broaden relations
and cooperation in diverse spheres for the mutual
benefit of the Ghanaian and Serbian peoples.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey expressed appreciation to
the Government of Serbia for their continued
support to the human resource development of Ghana
through the offer of Serbian Government
scholarships to Ghanaian students to pursue
various degree and post-graduate programmes in
Serbian Universities.

She applauded the Serbian Government for the 12
scholarship slots offered to Ghanaian students for
the 2021 academic year, for deciding to extend the
deadline for submission of applications for Ghana
and stated that the Scholarship Secretariat of
Ghana is working assiduously to submit names of
the selected beneficiary students for submission
to the Serbian Authorities.

She commended Mr Likar for taking time to come to
Accra to commiserate with the family of the late
Mr Steve Mawuenyega, who until his death on
January 12th, was the Honorary Consul of Serbia to
Ghana.

She stated that the late Mr Mawuenyega, during his
tenure, worked assiduously to strengthen the
relations between the two countries, which have
been longstanding, warm, and cordial since the
establishment of diplomatic relations in the
1950s.

Mr Likar suggested the creation of a Parliamentary
friendly group between the two nations as part of
strengthening their relationship.

He noted that his Government would continue the
scholarship scheme to enable more Ghanaian
students to study in Serbia.

Source - GNA

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