1. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Kang Kyung-wha, together with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana Shirley Botchwey, held the ROK-Ghana Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the conference room of the Ghanaian Foreign Ministry, on July 13 at 11:00-12:00. In the meeting, the two Ministers discussed the ROK-Ghana bilateral relations, trade and investment, development cooperation, as well as regional situation and multilateral cooperation.

○ Minister Kang extended appreciation to a number of Ghana’s high-level government officials, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Education, Minister of Trade and Industry, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Deputy Minister of Energy, for attending the ROK-Ghana Foreign Ministers’ Meeting despite it being held on Saturday.

2. In the meeting, Minister Kang noted that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1977, the ROK and Ghana have steadily advanced their friendly and cooperative ties on the basis of their shared values of democracy and free trade order, and voiced hope that the two countries would further strengthen bilateral ties by promoting a regular consultative mechanism. 
 
3. Minister Botchwey, welcoming the ROK Foreign Minister’s visit to Ghana in 13 years, voiced hope that this meeting would enable the ROK-Ghana relations to take a big step forward. Minister Botchwey went on to mention that President Nana Akufo-Addo stressed the importance of full-scale cooperation with the ROK that serves as a development model for Ghana; made an explanation for the unusual presence of Ghanaian Ministers and Deputy Ministers from many departments in the ROK-Ghana Foreign Ministers’ Meeting; and re-emphasized the significance that Ghana attaches to the bilateral relations.

4. Minister Kang commended the “Ghana Beyond Aid” policy implemented by the Ghanaian government, expressing the ROK government’s support for this initiative; and hoped that the ROK will continue to contribute to this initiative in various fields including agricultural and rural development, education, healthcare and energy.

5. The Ghanaian government voiced hope that the two countries would cooperate closely on industrialization and in fostering manufacturing industry; and noted that Ghana has a lot of potential to cooperate with the ROK’s enterprises with excellent technology and knowledge in such areas as petrochemical industry, agro-processing, energy, and machinery and equipment.

6. Going forward, Minister Kang congratulated Ghana on hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat; noted with appreciation that it would enable an industrial policy to be more effectively carried out by the Ghanaian government; and voiced hope that it would serve as a gateway for more Korean companies to take a step towards the African market.

○ Minister Kang suggested that legal infrastructure, including the Agreement on prevention of double taxation and the Agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, is needed in order to increase bilateral trade and investment; and called for the Ghanaian government’s special attention and cooperation to address the challenges of the Korean companies in Ghana.

○ Minister Kang added that Korean nationals and companies in Ghana are mostly working in the fisheries industry; extended appreciation to the Ghanaian government for its active assistance in handling the case of the abduction of ROK nationals by pirates in 2018; and asked for the Ghanaian government’s continued attention to and assistance on the safety of the ROK nationals.

7. Minister Kang spoke about the meetings held at Panmunjeom on June 30 between the leaders of the United States (U.S.) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as among those of the ROK, the DPRK and the U.S.; extended gratitude to the Ghanaian Foreign Ministry for issuing a statement welcoming the Inter-Korean Summit held on April 27, 2018; and asked the Ghanaian government to continuously and strongly support efforts to achieve complete denuclearization and establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

○ Adding that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is important to the international community as well, Minister Botchwey expressed firm support of Ghana for the Moon Jae-in government’s peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

8. Minister Kang hoped that the ROK’s development cooperation projects would contribute to the “Ghana Beyond Aid” policy in a wide range of areas including agricultural and rural development, education, healthcare and energy; and agreed to continue to increase development cooperation projects through close consultations in the future.

9. The ROK-Ghana Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is seen to have further deepened the ROK-Ghana relations, and have broadened the base for substantive cooperation with Ghana, a  country that is simultaneously undergoing the world’s fastest economic growth and democratization and also has high growth potential in the future.

* Unofficial translation