Kufuor Expected In Jamaica Today

Kingston, Jamaica - PRESIDENT of the Republic of Ghana John Agrekum Kufuor is scheduled to arrive at the Norman Manley International Airport today to begin a three-day working visit.

President Kufuor will be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nana Akfudo Addo, and Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematu.

The visit is aimed at boosting ties between Ghana and Caribbean nations, Jamaica's state-run news agency said.

Kufuor is scheduled to hold talks with Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson after arriving in the capital of Kingston, the Jamaica information service said in a news release on Sunday.

Kufuor's working visit will also include a tour of a bauxite plant in the southern town of Halse Hall. Jamaica produces about 16.8 tons of bauxite, the principal ore in aluminum, each year.

The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper reported on Sunday that Ghana, the world's no 2 cocoa producer and leading gold producer, is interested in investing in Jamaica's bauxite sector, the island's third largest earner of foreign currency after tourism and remittances.

Later, Kufuor will lay a wreath at the shrine of Jamaican-born black nationalist Marcus Garvey in the capital's National Heroes Park. He's also to meet with the island's governor general, Sir Howard Cooke, and opposition leader, Bruce Golding.

Kufuor also plans to meet with members of the Ghanaian community in Jamaica and tour Kingston's University of Technology before leaving later on Wednesday.

Kufuor will be the second Head of State from that country to visit Jamaica. The last leader from Ghana to visit Jamaica was Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, who came in the late 1990s