France lauds Ghana's progress

Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur

Thursday, January 24, 2013

By Edmund Mingle
The government of France has lauded the economic and democratic progress made by Ghana, and said it is very confident of the development prospects in Ghana.

In that regard, that country has assured the government of its cooperation in helping to achieve growth targets.

“We do think that Ghana is on a very good track,” said Frederick Clavier, French Ambassador to Ghana during a call on Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at the Flafstaff House in Accra.
The Ambassador, who conveyed the French government’s happiness about Ghana’s recent successful elections, also noted that his government was prepared to increase French investments in Ghana due to the congenial business atmosphere.

In furtherance of that, he announced that a group of 150 French investors would soon be in Ghana to explore opportunities for increased investment.

He congratulated the President and his government for taking office, indicating that France was prepared to work together with the new government.

He trusted that they would institute the necessary measures to sustain and improve on the economic gains.

On the political front, he said the government of France considered Ghana as a very critical contributor to peace in Africa, and promised active cooperation for improved democracy and peace in countries such as Mali and Cote d’Ivoire.

“We intend to open joint efforts to share ideas towards achieving peace in Mali,” he said.
In addition, he said “France has decided to upgrade its relations with Ghana,” and that Ghana could be assured of its continued support.

In that regard, the Ambassador extended the French government’s invitation to President Mahama to visit that country.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur, responding, thanked the government of France for the development assistance and cooperation.

He was optimistic that bilateral cooperation between the two nations would be expanded to yield more dividends, saying emerging areas of mutual interest would have to be considered.

With regard to the intention to increase French investments in Ghana, he welcomed the move and assured that the government would continue to create a stable economic climate so as to secure the confidence of investors.

“We are confident of the prospects, and we know Ghanaians and our friends like France are behind us,” he said.

Ghana, he said was committed to bilateral relations with France, saying the government was prepared to collaborate in resolving issues emerging from countries such as Mali and Cote d’Ivoire which are also of interest France.
END