Ghana and Bulgaria have agreed to deepen and strengthen cooperation in the fields of social, economic, political, cultural and scientific cooperation with the view of improving the standards of living of their peoples. To that end, the two countries, have resolved to cooperate not only at the Bilateral level, but also at the multilateral level through various international fora such as the United Nations, the African Union, and the European Union, among others, as a way of deepening and strengthening the long standing relations between the two countries.

These issues came to the fore during discussions between the Bulgarian President, H.E. Mr. Georgi Parvanov and Ghana?s Foreign Minister, Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo, MP, during a three-day official visit by the Foreign Minister to Sofia, capital of Bulgaria.

Commending Ghana?s invaluable contribution towards finding lasting solutions to the respective peace processes on the African continent, the Bulgarian President drew a parallel of that role by Ghana with those of Bulgaria?s in the Western Balkans which had for the past decade remained a politically volatile region.

President Parvanov observed, enthusiastically, that Ghana?s 50th independence anniversary had coincided with her Chairmanship of the African Union, as well as her quest for lasting peace on the African continent. He further applauded Ghana?s adherence to democratic values and expressed the desire to receive President John Agyekum Kufuor to Sofia anytime he was ready to visit Bulgaria.

Reacting, Ghana?s Foreign Minister, Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo, MP, congratulated Bulgaria on her accession to the European Union, acknowledging that it was no mean a feat. Nana Akufo-Addo noted that the nearly fifty years of relations between Ghana and Bulgaria which was at its peak in the early sixties, slumped after the 1966 coup that overthrew the first President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He invited Bulgarian investors to avail themselves of Ghana?s stable political and investment-friendly environments to invest in various sectors of Ghana?s economy.

Earlier on Wednesday, at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry in Sofia, the two countries signed and exchanged a Protocol for Establishment of Bilateral Consultations at the diplomatic level. The Protocol which was initialed by Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo, MP, on behalf of Ghana, and H.E. Mr. Ivaylo Kalfin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, would serve as the basis for effective bilateral consultations between the two countries with the view to promoting their mutual interests both at the regional and global levels.

In the preceding discussions leading to the exchange of the Protocols, the two Foreign Ministers touched on a myriad of issues of mutual and global concern that ranged from political, economic and trade, to cultural. The peace process on the African continent, the impending EU/Africa Summit in Lisbon, as well as the situation in Serbia?s southern province of Kosovo, feathered prominently in their discussions. Hon. Nana Akufo-Addo assured his Bulgaria counterpart that his presence in Sofia was an indication of Ghana?s determination to rekindle the once vibrant relations between Ghana and Bulgaria, which has witnessed a slump after the overthrow of President Nkrumah.

As part of the agenda for the official visit, Hon. Nana Akufo, MP, also met the Foreign Relations Committee of the 240-member Bulgarian National Assembly, with the view to acquainting himself with the work of the Committee. The Hon. Minister, himself a member of Ghana?s Parliament, also sought the possibility of forging links between the National Assemblies of the two countries.

The committee which was chaired by Dr. Solomon Passy, MP, has three (3) Deputy Chairpersons.

The Hon. Minister who led a six-member official delegation on a three (3) day visit to Sofia has since left for Moscow, Russia on the last leg of his official visit. He was joined in Sofia by Ghana?s ambassador accredited to the Republic of Bulgaria, H.E. Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe.