In order to support the attainment of the Ghana Beyond Aid Vision, Ghana and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have agreed to review bilateral cooperation in various sectors. This decision was reached when Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s Finance Minister and the Ghanaian delegation currently in Japan met with Hiroshi Sato, Vice President and officials of JICA in Tokyo.
Ken Ofori-Atta, while expressing profound appreciation for JICA’s support to Ghana said recent economic achievement is expected to propel the country on a new growth trajectory which called for redefining relationships with bilateral organizations such as JICA.
Some issues discussed received favourable consideration from the Japanese like the; the on-going JICA projects in infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, trade, economic and technical assistance and new iconic projects proposed by the delegation. The new ones included support to establish an international financial hub, construction of Accra-Tema Metro Rail, and support for an endowment fund to transform the Nugochi Memorial Medical Research Centre into a global research centre.
The Finance Minister who also supported the agreement said such strong iconic projects will cement the relationship between the two countries and clearly register Japanese presence in the region”. Vice President Sato assured the delegation that JICA will continue to work to improve bilateral cooperation, he also pledged to consider increasing intake for the human resource capacity building programmes and the volunteer programme.
