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Mr Emmanuel Bombande, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has reiterated government’s continuous commitment to provide enabling environment for foreign businesses to operate in the country on a win-win basis.

He said many investment opportunities abound in the country for investors in a wide range of areas, including agriculture and agro-processing, health and pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, construction and infrastructural projects, energy generation, transportation, tourism, education and youth development projects.

Mr Bombande was speaking at the second session of the Ghana-Russia Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation, currently ongoing in Accra.

He said Ghana and Russia have been working diligently to solidify the cordial bond of friendship and cooperation existing between the two countries for the mutual benefit of the people from the respective countries.

The Russian Commission, led by Mr Evgeny Kiselev, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, are in the country to explore investment partnership in the area of ICT, transport, housing, energy and natural resources, trade, economic, investment, agriculture, immigration and legal. 

Mr Bombande said a recent demonstration of these efforts is the holding of the Ghana-Russia Business Forum organised by Ghana Embassy in Moscow in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, in which Mr Kiselev graciously participated and delivered the keynote address in 2014.

“Without a doubt, the business forum set off productive dialogue among our business people, thereby providing an invaluable opportunity for fruitful networking between our business communities,” he added.

He said the Joint Commission could now be said to have become one of the key driving forces behind the bilateral relations.

“Today’s session is yet another welcomed opportunity for us to assess our bilateral cooperation over again through a multifaceted lens of, but not limited to, economic, scientific and technical diplomacy as well as to identify new avenues of cooperation, while fortifying the existing ones simultaneously.

“The inaugural session, successfully hosted in Moscow in October, 2014 culminated in the signing of the communiqué covering a wide range of issues relating to bilateral cooperation... It did set for us a firm foundation on which to further concretise our relationship with tangible evidence.  

“On the implementation of the conclusion of the inaugural session, much as appreciable progress has been made in realising some of the conclusions reached, particularly in the nuclear energy arena, a lot more, however, needs to be done to achieve the desired results,” he added.

Mr Bombande said the two were tasked to ensure that agreements emanating from the joint commission sessions bear fruits for their people.

“It, therefore, behoves  us to encourage the private sector in our respective countries to foster stronger bonds among themselves as we put in place the enabling environment that would make private investment flourish with ease,” he said.

Mr Kiselev was appreciative of the warm welcome from their counterparts and pledged to ensure that all protocols and projects initiated under the joint commission are completed.

He said they conceive Ghana a very respective country in terms of bilateral and economic cooperation and commended the Government for the important role it is playing in the growth of the West Africa Region.

Mr Kiselev said it is also important to highlight on cultural exchange and educational programmes between the two, as currently 650 Ghanaian students are studying in Russia.

He, therefore, extended invitation to the Ghana to attend an economic forum at St Petersburg in 2017.