The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has underscored the need for Ghana and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to ratify and implement the signed Agreements and Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) between both countries.
The MOUs signed include that of mutual exemption of entry visa requirements; agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income; agreement in the field of manpower, and agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters.
The Foreign Minister made the call during a virtual meeting with UAE Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Shakhboot Bin Nahyan Al Nahyan.
Ms Botchwey referred, particularly, to the MOU signed with the Dubai-based Thumbay Group towards the establishment of a teaching hospital and a medical university in Ghana. She requested her Arabian counterpart to use his office to encourage the implementation of the MOU.
She noted that the agreement between Ghana and the UAE for the promotion and protection of investments is still under consideration by both sides and needs to be worked on at an accelerated pace for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Public education
Ms Botchwey further noted that recent inaccurate media reportage had created some misconceptions in the minds of some members of the traveling public in Ghana following the announcement of the Parliamentary ratification of the agreement for the mutual exemption of entry visa requirements for holders of certain categories of passports signed between Ghana and the UAE.
She said public education would be embarked upon by the government to clarify the inaccuracies so as to enable a smooth implementation of the Mutual Exemption of the Entry visas in line with the intention of the two countries.
Ms Botchwey further discussed the need for cooperation on access to vaccines between Ghana and the UAE, aimed at accelerating economic recovery in both countries and keeping healthy populations.
On this score, the Minister lauded the UAE for the wide vaccine coverage of the population in that country, and indicated Ghana’s ambition of covering 70 percent of her people by December 2021. She requested support from the UAE to help achieve that.
Commenting on the UAE’s request for support for the candidature of Major-General Dr Ahmed Bin Nasser Al-Raisi, Inspector-General at the Ministry of Interior, for election to the position of the President of Interpol for the period 2022-25, during the Interpol General Assembly in November 2021, Ms Botchwey assured that the request is receiving the attention of the Ghanaian authorities.
She further commended the UAE for being the first country to sign the Abraham Accords in pursuit of normalisation of ties with Israel and in pursuit of peace and stability in the Middle-East.