As part of activities to strength the friendship between Ghana and China, the first ever Economic and Cultural week between the two nations begun earlier this week.
The Ghana-China Economic and Cultural week forms part of activities to mark 60 years of eventful diplomatic relations between the two countries.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still rampaging nations, the week-long celebrations, held via zoom was themed, “60 years of great friendship: building back stronger and better, a shared Ghana-China future beyond COVID-19”. With a special focus on how both countries can mitigate the socio-economic impact of the Novel Corona Virus.
The event saw the participation of numerous dignitaries both in Ghana and China.
The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Charles Owiredu participating in the event noted that this long standing relationship between the two countries was a milestone worth celebrating.
“60 years in the life of an individual and particularly relations between States are great milestones worth celebrating”, he said.
Describing the formation of this unique diplomatic bond, Charles furthered, Ghana established diplomatic relations with China shortly after becoming a Republic in July 1960, one of the first African countries to do so. He indicated that the personal friendship between the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and Chairman Mao laid a strong foundation for the burgeoning relations between the two countries at the time.
Over the years, the relations between the two countries have been nurtured and strengthened by successive Ghanaian and Chinese Leaders and the relations have become more robust and diverse, touching practically all conceivable spheres of development, notably in trade, investment, culture and education.
To ensure a just, equitable, and peaceful international order, Ghana-China have continued to cooperate at the multilateral level with absolute cohesion.
“On the economic, trade, and investment fronts, our two countries have deepened their cooperation. China is currently the largest investor in Ghana by the number of registered projects. It is also Ghana’s biggest trading partner with the total value of trade reaching a record 7.46 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, thereby surpassing our traditional trade partners”.
While both countries took stock of the achievements of Sino-Ghanaian relations over the years, it was important to explore new areas of cooperation in the years ahead that would not only spur the economic growth of Ghana but also aid it to replicate the spectacular economic success of China in the past forty years.
“To achieve this, Ghana is leveraging its status as host of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Chinese investors are, therefore, urged to take advantage of this development and the conducive business environment in Ghana to serve as a springboard to access the continental market.”
With the world hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Deputy Minister acknowledged the emergence of the new normal, which has significantly shifted the way business is done, and how political engagements would be conducted across the globe. Hence, Ghana-China relations could ride on the back of it to create viable political, economic, social, and cultural partnerships that would define their future in the post-COVID-19 era.
“With Ghana’s leadership and voice on the African continent, Ghana-China relations post-COVID-19 has the potential of becoming a blueprint for other bilateral and multilateral relations in our continent.”
Ghana’s Ambassador to China, Edward Boateng, joining in the celebrations added that exchanges between Ghana-China has been fruitful over the years with the relationship having been of great benefit to both countries and their people.
He admitted that the introduction of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in 2000 has provided a more formidable platform for this bilateral relationship and the rest of Africa.
According to him, it was important for both countries to occasionally take stock of their achievements and challenges and find new approaches to their cooperation through initiatives like the Ghana-China Economic and Cultural Week.
Mr Boateng said the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus earlier this year has put a heavy burden on countries across the world on many fronts and has affected economic and cultural activities between the two countries.
To him, the week long celebration provides both countries the opportunity to discuss and find solutions to the negative impact of the pandemic on the cooperation between both countries.
He said with the lineup of activities for the week, both countries could take a comprehensive stock of the 60 years relationship and discover new areas that they could work together to surmount the challenges presented by the covid-19 pandemic in the new era.
Founder, and CEO of Duapa Africa, Musa Frimpong, said his organization was committed to increasing new and innovative forms of cooperation between Ghana and China.
He added, trade and investment would only be sustainable if there is a common understanding between both sides through cultural and people-to-people exchanges, adding that more support was needed from governments and other stakeholders from both countries to support these new forms of cooperation beyond economics.
Other activities throughout the week including fora on education, health, business, innovation, tourism, job, and startup competition were all designed to give the Ghana-China relationship a new and practical approach.
