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In order to gain more knowledge and improve bilateral and multilateral connections around the world, Ghana has started the process to get Observer Status in the Pacific Alliance, a regional integration movement made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
On September 6, 2023, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia revealed the information. He stated Cabinet had approved the legislation and that the government would soon send the required paperwork to Parliament for review and confirmation.
When Dr. Bawumia received H.E. Madam Francia Elena Marquez Mina, Vice President of the Republic of Colombia, to the Jubilee House in Accra, he declared the government’s desire to constantly seek collaborations and development insights abroad. First Afro-Caribbean woman to hold the high position of vice president of Colombia, H.E. Marquez Mina, is leading a government and business team on a two-day official visit to Ghana in order to look into ways to strengthen ties between the two nations.
The Pacific Alliance’s four member nations collectively have the eighth-largest economies in the world. The organization was formally founded on April 28th, 2011, and among its goals are to create an area of deep integration that will gradually allow for the free movement of resources, people, and goods; to further the growth, development, and competitiveness of its members’ economies with a focus on enhancing well-being; to combat socioeconomic inequality; and to encourage the social inclusion of its citizens.
Vice President Bawumia clarified the justification for Ghana’s pursuit of Observer status in the Pacific Alliance by saying:
“We are really in a globalized world, and some of the time we forget that the interests of Ghana are very common with the interests of many other countries in the developing world. So it is always important to know what is going on elsewhere, to know what opportunities exist for your country, for your investors, and the Global South as a whole.
“So our decision to become an observer member of the Pacific Alliance is very much in the strategic, economic, cultural, tourism and other interests of Ghana. I believe that our membership of the Alliance will bring us closer to Latin America as a whole, and as you heard from H.E. the Vice President they thought we had forgotten about them for the longest time. We need to forge links, and I think that Ghana has very important economic interests, in the tourism, technology and other sectors so we are very keen to be an Observer member and to benefit across and to get more trade and investment relations between us and the Pacific Alliance countries. It is a good thing for Ghana to do.”
Over the past 30 years, Ghana has developed close, formal ties with the Pacific Alliance nations, and it currently serves as the host country for the diplomatic missions of those nations in the Alliance for the West Africa sub region.
H.E. Marquez Mina and her delegation will visit the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles, meet with the Colombian community, speak with Ghanaian business people and potential investors, sign a number of bilateral agreements, and pay a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi, while in Ghana.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
