Ministry of Foreign Affairs to own training institute
The sod has been cut for the construction of a $5-million multi-purpose Foreign Service Institute for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
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Funded by the EXIM Bank of India, the four-storey project, which is expected to be completed in the next 12 months, will comprise lecture rooms, an auditorium, a library, a language laboratory, catering facilities, a hotel, among other facilities.
Background
At the sod-cutting ceremony in Accra on Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayokor Botchwey, said the Indian government, through the EXIM Bank, in September 2008 extended to the government of Ghana a $5 million credit for the construction of the institute.
She said the sod cutting was performed in November 2008 to convert the erstwhile uncompleted three-storey Ministry of Regional Cooperation and NEPAD building into a Foreign Service Institute.
“The initiative stalled after that initial ceremony in 2008 because the project had not been awarded on contract at the time,” she explained.
She said in July 2015, the idea for the construction of the institute was rejuvenated and a contract was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Seftech India Limited for the construction of the institute.
Committee
Following her appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs in March this year, she recommended the setting up of a project implementation committee to revive the project and find a way forward for its execution.
The Foreign Minister said the committee identified a number of shortfalls in the plan for the project and realised that the then uncompleted structure serving as office accommodation for the then Ministry of Regional Cooperation and NEPAD was not suitable for conversion into a training institute.
On that score, she said, the committee decided to demolish the entire structure to pave the way for a redesigned and customised plan to be built from scratch.
Ms Botchwey expressed appreciation to the Indian government for providing financial support for the project, which she said represented one of the cardinal hallmarks of the blossoming relations between Ghana and India.
Chairman
The Chairman of the Infrastructure Implementation Committee, who is also a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, said the project, when completed, would provide practical training for Foreign Service officers and staff from other ministries, departments and agencies.
He said the Foreign Service Institute of India had, over the years, trained scores of Ghanaian diplomats and envisaged that the completion of the project in Ghana would afford the opportunity for creating a watershed moment for the benefit of citizens of both Ghana and India.
The Indian Minister for External Affairs, Mr Mobashar Jawed Akbar, who was among the dignitaries at the ceremony, said since India believed in knowledge sharing, the institute would serve as a centre for acquiring knowledge.