HELP BOOST TRADE BETWEEN GHANA AND EGYPT (PAGE 29)

A Minister of State at the Presidency, Mr Alhassan Azong, has called on Ghanaian entrepreneurs to take up the challenge to boost trade between Ghana and Egypt.
Currently the level of trade between the two countries is $150 million in favour of Egypt.
The Minister of State, who made the appeal at the National Day Reception of the Arab Republic of Egypt, said the level of economic co-operation and commercial exchanges between the two countries had also increased considerably in recent times.
He said the relationship between the two nations dated back to the pre-independence era and Egypt was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Ghana when the nation attained independence.
He also observed that the cordial relations between the two countries were further strengthened when the two countries became members of the Cassablanca block in the struggle to preserve freedom, unity and integrity of the African people against the forces factionalism and neo-colonialism that threatened the continent.
Mr Azong said their efforts eventually led to the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union.
He said Ghana, over the years, continued to receive various forms of assistance from Egypt through the Bilateral Technical Co-operation Agreement signed by the two countries in 1984 and renewed in 1998.
He said the assistance came in the form of provision of doctors, teachers and training courses in agriculture, diplomacy, health, policing, nursing, cotton production and geology for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Mr Azong said in recent times the collaboration between the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce and the Ghana Chamber of Commerce had increased considerably, thereby boosting trade between the two nations.
The Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Seif Allah Mostafa Nosseir, in a welcome address, said since the commencement of the 50-year historical relationship between Ghana and Egypt, both countries had shared common goals, targets and policies.
He said Egypt was proud of Ghana for the peaceful transition of power for the second time in eight years and that it was worthy to mention that President Hosni Mubarak was among the first group of leaders to extend their congratulations to the President Prof. John Evans Atta Mills.
Ambassador Nosseir gave the assurance that the Egyptian Fund for Technical Co-operation with Africa was doing its best to implement the bilateral co-operation agreement within its framework.