By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Feb. 09, GNA – Indian High Commissioner Designate to Ghana, Mr Manish Gupta, says Ghana is India’s key partner in development, trade and investments.
“India is amongst the top five trading partners with Ghana and our relationship is based on mutual trust and respect.”
Mr Gupta said this during the 75th Anniversary celebration of Indian’s Independence and democracy in Accra attended by government officials, members of the diplomatic community in Ghana, heads of public and private institutions and traditional leaders.
“I am told that over 900 projects have been completed by Indians in the last two decades. And this involves investments of over $2 billion. I see a lot of opportunities in the agriculture, mining, medicine and health and IT. The two countries can work together.” Mr Gupta told the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of reception.
He urged Ghana to continue with its digitalization drive since it had become a propeller of development, adding that, “We have 1.4 billion people in Indian and everybody has a digital identity. We are leveraging on that to get our health benefits, social welfare subsidies and we are using it to roll out several programmes.”
He said India had been working tirelessly to become the third largest economy by 2030, and both countries could invest more in agriculture, mining, medicine and other health related sectors and information technology (IT).
“Since the start of our democracy, the people of India have been working towards socio-economic development. Indian’s development model resonates with the global south, and they continued to build capacity to work with developing countries.”
Mr Herbert Krapa, Deputy Minister of Energy, who led the Government delegation, said, Ghana and India shared a deep commitment to democracy, human rights, and respect for the rule of law and such tenets of democratic governance had ensured peace, stability and economic development over the years.
He said Indian investments had undoubtedly contributed to the revitalization of Ghana’s economy, leading to the creation of jobs and business opportunities for the youth in Ghana.
“I call for an increased presence of Indian investors in Ghana, to take advantage of the continental market to further strengthen the trade ties in areas such as Agriculture and Agri-related technologies, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), power and energy,” Mr Krapa said.
He commended India for extending a total of 13 Lines of Credit (LOCs) through its development partnership, in rural electrification, connectivity, agro-processing machinery, irrigation equipment, railways, construction, water and construction and capacity building supports to public servants under the Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
GNA