We're for peace and stability - Minister assures envoy

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyeman, has expressed the commitment of the government to ensure lasting peace and stability in the sub-region by contributing troops to war-torn countries.

He said the disturbances in Liberia, The Gambia and Sierra Leone are of concern to the government because they threaten the peace and stability of neighbouring countries, a development which easily kills investor confidence in the region.

Mr Owusu Agyeman intimated that ensuring peace in the sub-region forms part of the foreign policy of the new administration and will be vigorously pursued to boost investor confidence in Ghana and the region as a whole.

He was speaking at a meeting with the Swiss Foreign Minister, Professor Joseph Deiss, at his office in Accra yesterday. It was attended by the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Dr Peter Schweizer, and other Swiss ambassadors in other African countries.

Mr Owusu Agyeman disclosed that the government is in close contact with its Nigerian counterpart to see how best peace can be restored to the affected countries to help stabilise the region.

Mr Owusu Agyeman said the time has come for African governments to stop creating room for rebels in their countries to destabilise their efforts at ensuring progress and development.

He said the government has declared this year as a golden age for the private sector and will continue to ensure that the right atmosphere needed to attract both local and foreign investors to do brisk business in the country is not compromised.

Mr Owusu Agyeman reiterated that the government is working hard to stabilise the currency to regain its strength against the major foreign currencies.

Furthermore, he said, the government is vigorously pursuing policies and programmes to revamp the educational and health sectors to improve the human resource base and health situation of the people.

He highly commended Swiss firms operating in the country and mentioned specifically, Nestle, and called for increased Swiss investments in the Ghanaian economy. Mr Owusu Agyeman renewed the commitment of the government to work closely with its Swiss counterparts.

Professor Deiss, on his part, said it is due to the confidence that the Swiss Government has in Ghana that it decided to hold the Conference of Swiss Ambassadors serving in 21 African countries in Accra.

The conference opened on Sunday. He said plans are afoot to open up the Swiss market wider to Ghanaian products and also woo investors from Switzerland to invest in Ghana.