Korea to assist Ghana overcome development challenges
The Republic of Korea (South Korea) says Ghana remains a priority development partner in West Africa and will, therefore, continue to provide the necessary support for the country to overcome its development challenges.
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The Korean Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Mr Kim Hyoung-zhin, who made this known in Seoul last Tuesday, said the similarities in the economic history of the two countries had placed Korea in a better position to understand the economic challenges of a developing country such as Ghana.
With such an understanding, Mr Kim said Korea was ready to share its development experience with Ghana and assist in the country’s economic transformation process.
He was speaking at a dinner to welcome a 14-member Ghanaian delegation that is in Korea to attend a training programme dubbed: high-level strategy partnership for Ghana’s economic development.
The programme is also intended for the delegation to learn of the development experience of Korea and examine how the lessons could be adopted to enhance Ghana’s development process.
The training is also part of efforts by Ghana and Korea to strengthen their bilateral relations.
Delegation
The delegation include chief directors of the ministries of Defence, Fisheries and Acquaculture Development, Communication, Petroleum, Health, Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department and Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs.
Others are the chief directors of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Public Sector Reform Secretariat, Office of Head of Civil Service, as well as chief economic officers of the Ministry of Finance.
Sharing experiences
Mr Kim said Korea had a lot to share with Ghana to help the country to grow its economy and deepen its democracy.
He said in the 1960s, Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP) was higher than Korea but over the years, his country had succeeded in moving from a poor country to a donor nation.
He commended Ghana for its democracy which had earned the country the accolade,‘’beacon of democracy in Africa’’.
Ghana’s Ambassador to Korea, Ms Elizabeth Nicol, said Ghana and Korea were both underdeveloped in the 1960s but Korea had now become a developed country, while Ghana was still grappling with its development.
She said Ghana had realised what went wrong with its development process and was getting its act together to overcome the challenges.
She said Ghana was collaborating with Korea to implement a number of projects to address some of the challenges.
Ms Nicol said Korea had shown its readiness to share its development experiences and Ghana was looking forward to more cooperation with that country.