Ghana and Slovenia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards developing and strengthening economic cooperation to exploit the wide range of investments and business opportunities between them for the wellbeing of their citizens.

Dr Mohammed Awal, the Minister for Business Development, signed for Ghana, while Slovenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Dobran Bozic, signed for his side.

The agreement was signed at the margins of the two-day Eighth Africa Day International Conference at Ljubljana, Slovenia, an official statement issued by the Public Relations Outfit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said.

Representatives from more than 30 countries in Africa and the European Union are attending the conference, which seeks to examine the future of African and European relations and cooperation in the context of changing demographics, employment opportunities and migration patterns.

Describing the exercise as a ‘crucial one’, Slovenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Dobran Bozic, said the gesture would not only create favourable investment conditions for the two countries but also help promote long-term cooperation in the areas of Agriculture, Energy, Science and Technology, as well as trade in goods and services.

Dr Awal, for his part, welcomed a Ghana – Slovenia partnership, citing the visit of the Slovenian Business Delegation to Ghana earlier in the year as a significant step to further deepen their trade and economic ties.

Other members of the Ghanaian delegation, including Mr Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, a deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Chief Executive of the Ghana Exim Bank, Lawrence Agyinsam, Chief Executive of Ghana Export Promotions Authority, Afua Asabea Asare, as well as Ghana’s Ambassador to Italy, Eudora Hilda Koranteng Quartey, took turns to explain the various roles played by their respective outfits in the country’s quest to become an industrialised-based economy.

They also explained the opportunities Ghana sought to become self-reliant.

The team also shared plans by the Government to create jobs through a programme of rapid and aggressive value addition, especially in agro-processing and vibrant manufacturing.

Ghana and Slovenia established diplomatic relations 35 years ago.