Foreign Minister in Cuba on official visit

At the initiation of Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, the Hon. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, MP and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana arrived in Havana on Sunday.

The important delegation from Ghana also includes Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister for Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City, and the Minister of Health, ret. Major Courage Quashigah, who is also here as the guest of his Cuban counterpart, Dr. Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera.

Other members of the delegation include Mr. Osei Bonsu Amoah, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education and Sports as well as other Ghanaian officials.

This is the first time that the Ghana foreign minister visits Cuba. His stay here is aimed at furthering the historical friendship ties that exist between our two peoples. It will also include a reviewing of the political relations between the two countries and efforts to strengthen the existing links of bilateral cooperation, especially in the areas of health care and education.

The Foreign Minister of Ghana is also presiding over his nation?s delegation to the XIII Meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Cuba-Ghana Commission, that will take place in Havana on the 4th and 5th of April, to be headed on the Cuban side by the Minister of Cooperation and Foreign Investment, Marta Lomas.

The Republic of Ghana is located in Western Africa. It neighbors are Ivory Coast to the west, Togo to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. The Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean is on the nation?s southern coast. Ghana has a total area of 238,500 square kilometers, and a population of 22,113,000. Its capital is Accra.

Ghana and Cuba established diplomatic relations on December 23, 1959. At this moment 181 Health Care specialists are cooperating in the African nation.

Over the years 1,118 Ghanaian students have graduated in Cuba, of which 542 are university level graduates and 639 finished intermediate level schooling. Forty-eight scholarship students from Ghana are currently attending Cuban universities in the medical and sports faculties.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be meeting with Cuban officials and will visit places of historical, scientific and economic interest along with his delegation.