President John Dramani Mahama has held bilateral talks with the President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Jae Myung, reaffirming the strong and historic partnership between their two countries.
The meeting culminated in the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in the areas of maritime security, climate change cooperation, and digital technology.
At the signing ceremony in the Korean capital, Seoul, yesterday, President Mahama highlighted the shared history, democratic values, and mutual commitment to human rights that continue to strengthen relations between Ghana and Korea.
According to him, these common values have enabled both countries to work closely together in multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, where Ghana and Korea often advance similar positions on global issues.
“So, our relationship is not defined by the distance between our two countries, but rather by the similarity of the values we share,” Mr. Mahama stated.
President Mahama also underscored expanding cooperation in agriculture and agribusiness, particularly through initiatives supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), aimed at boosting rice production and enhancing Ghana’s food security.
“Our cooperation with KOICA has been very important, particularly in increasing rice production through the K-Rice Belt Project. We look forward to the availability of high-yielding rice varieties that will help us expand production. Rice has now become a staple food in Ghana, and we want to reduce the amount of rice we import,” President Mahama stated.
He further highlighted opportunities for stronger economic partnership through the African Continental Free Trade Area, whose Secretariat is hosted in Accra, positioning Ghana as a strategic hub for production and exports to the wider African market.
President Mahama expressed optimism that Ghana’s natural and human resources, combined with Korea’s technological innovation, would continue to drive a mutually beneficial partnership for sustainable growth and shared prosperity.
The goal, he emphasised, was to position Ghana as a hub for production and exports to the rest of Africa, noting that Ghana has abundant natural and human resources, while Korea has technology and innovation.
“I believe we can bring these strengths together in a win-win partnership. We are also committed to adding value to our products,” he stated.
President Mahama noted that Ghana, like many African countries, has significant potential in critical minerals and is exploiting resources such as bauxite, manganese, and gold, and has discovered large reserves of lithium, nickel, and other rare minerals in recent times.
“Korea has the technology, and we believe we can explore these resources together, not exporting them in their raw form, but adding value before exporting them to Korea and other markets,” he added.
With stronger economic indicators from what he inherited, President Mahama revealed that Ghana was looking forward to accessing the Economic Development Cooperation Fund once again and expressed the desire for Ghana and South Korea to sign a visa waiver agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders, to make exchanges between the two countries much easier.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
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