Ghana has initiated moves to attain Observer Status in the Pacific Alliance, an initiative of regional integration which comprises Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, to garner greater insights and form bilateral and multilateral relationships across the world.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who disclosed this on Wednesday, said Cabinet had approved the move and the government would soon send the necessary documentation to Parliament for consideration and ratification.
Dr Bawumia announced the government’s intention to continually seek partnerships and development insights across the world when he welcomed H.E. Madam Francia Elena Marquez Mina, Vice President of Colombia to the Jubilee House, Accra.
H.E. Marquez Mina, the first Afro-Caribbean woman to ascend the high office of Vice President of Colombia, is on a two-day official visit to Ghana, at the head of a government and business delegation to explore opportunities to deepen ties between the two countries.
Together, the economies of the four countries of the Pacific Alliance make up the eighth-greatest economy in the world.
Officially established on April 28th, 2011, the group’s objectives include building in a participatory and consensual way, an area of deep integration to move progressively towards the free mobility of goods, services, resources and people; drive further growth, development and competitiveness of the economies of its members.
It is also focused on achieving greater well-being, overcoming socioeconomic inequality, promoting the social inclusion of its inhabitants and becoming a platform of political articulation, economic and commercial integration and projection to the world.
Shedding more light on the rationale behind Ghana’s quest to attain Observer status in the Pacific Alliance, Vice President Bawumia explained, “We are really in a globalised world and some of the time we forget that the interests of Ghana are very common with the interests of many other countries in the developing world.
“So it is always important to know what is going on elsewhere, to know what opportunities exist for your country, for your investors, and the Global South as a whole.
So Ghana’s decision, according to Vice President Bawumia to become an observer member of the Pacific Alliance, “is very much in the strategic, economic, cultural, tourism and other interests of Ghana.”
“I believe that our membership of the Alliance will bring us closer to Latin America as a whole, and as you heard from H.E. the Vice President they thought we had forgotten about them for the longest time.
“We need to forge links, and I think that Ghana has very important economic interests, in the tourism, technology and other sectors so we are very keen to be an Observer member and to benefit across and to get more trade and investment relations between us and the Pacific Alliance countries. It is a good thing for Ghana to do.”
Ghana has had deep, formal ties with the countries of the Pacific Alliance over the last 30 years, and currently hosts the Diplomatic Missions of the countries in the Alliance for the West Africa sub-region.
While in Ghana, H.E. Marquez Mina and her delegation will meet with the Colombian community, have discussions with Ghanaian businessmen and potential investors, sign several bilateral agreements, visit the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles, and pay a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
