Accra-Fujian ties get boost with new pact

CHINA and Ghana have further strengthened their diplomatic relations, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between officials from the Greater Accra Region (province) in Ghana, and Fujian province in southeast China.

Regional Minister Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, from Accra, and the Vice-Governor of Fujian Zheng Xiomeng said the agreement marked the beginning of a "sister province relationship" between the two, aimed at creating employment and improved living conditions in both areas.

The two officials were attending the 18th China International Fair Investment and Trade in Xiamen, a provincial city in Fujian.

Exhibitors from more than 100 countries, including Ghana, took part in the fair, which focused on cementing trade, business and economic ties between China and countries from around the world.

According to the MOU, officials from the two areas will work together in key sectors, including agriculture, science and technology, education, and culture, all of which will be aimed at sustainable development, economic prosperity and social progress.

As part of the process, the Ghana China Friendship Association plans to open a liaison office in the province, which will coordinate any future projects and programs carried out under the agreement, working closely with Fujian's Foreign Affairs Office.

"Both sides will support and encourage their industrial and business communities to develop stronger relations," they said in a joint statement.

That is likely to be achieved through economic and trade missions, and joint conferences, seminars and training programs, it added.

Afotey-Agbo said his region and its people stood to gain considerably from the new formalized relationship; the first to benefit will a group of students, who will be awarded scholarships to study in the Chinese province, he added.

Poultry farmers, too, would benefit in the early stages through the transfer of modern techniques from China, aimed at raising the profitability of their businesses.

He added that officials in Accra are particularly concerned about sanitation, and another of the early actions of the newly agreed "bond of friendship between ourselves and Fujian" would be to equip waste management contractors from Accra with much-needed modern tools and machinery from China, to help modernize their systems.

The Greater Accra Region is well known for its efforts at preserving its indigenous cultural heritage, Afotey-Agbo added, and cultural exchanges would also be an important part of the planned joint initiatives.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/19/2014 page3)