Amissah-Arthur: Economy not a mess

Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur on Tuesday assured the business and international communities that Ghana’s economy is not in disarray, as has been suggested this week.

He said although there were challenges, government was taking the necessary steps to address them and would need more foreign direct investments in the march towards attaining full middle-income status.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur gave the assurance of the state of the econommy when the Head of the European Union delegation in Ghana, Mr Claude Maerten, paid a courtesy call on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra.

As an Economist and former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the Vice President said as the nation moved towards a full middle income status, development assistance would reduce significantly.

In view of this, he said, the government was putting in place measures to attract and retain direct foreign investments.

He expressed appreciation to the EU for the development assistance and co-operation Ghana had received over years, but stressed more direct participation and other forms of incentives to enhance the growth of the Ghanaian economy.

Mr Maerten was optimistic that under the Mahama-Amissah-Arthur leadership, the EU’s relations with Ghana would grow from strength to strength.

He said the EU would be engaging the government in its core priority areas and the role it could play to enhance the economy of Ghana.

Also at the Flagstaff House to pay a courtesy call on the Vice President, was the Turkey Ambassador to Ghana, Aydia Nurhan.

He described President John Mahama’s visit to Turkey last month as historic and key to Ghana-Turkey relations.

He said after the visit he had received request from the Mayor of Instanbul for a sister city project with eight communities in Ghana.

Mr. Nurhan also invited the Vice President to attend an economic summit in Turkey in April.

Responding, Vice President Amissah-Arthur said Ghana had had long standing relations with Turkey, adding that in recent years, the relations had attained a high level of co-operation with the visit to Ghana by Turkish President Addullah Gul about two years ago and last month’s reciprocal visit by President Mahama.

The Vice President acknowledged the fast growth rate of Turkey’s economy, and said Ghana was prepared to learn from her.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said following President Mahama’s visit, more investors from Turkey had arrived in the country to explore investment opportunities.

Earlier in the day, the Japanese Government assured Ghana of an increased bilateral co-operation and support

According to Japan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Toshiko Abe, who also called on the Vice President, Ghana continued to remain her country’s trading partner in Africa.

This, he said, was to Ghana’s enviable democratic credentials, which keep improving.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said he was happy that the relations between Ghana and Japan had been growing from strength to strength.

The visit by the Japanese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs was to officially congratulate President John Dramani Mahama on his election to the highest political office of the land.

It was also to express gratitude to the President, who once worked with Japan International Co-operation Agency.