Ghana and Columbia on Friday held their maiden political consultations in Accra, as part of efforts to strengthen their bilateral ties.

At the function, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on sports cooperation was signed between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Columbia Institute of Sports – Coldeportes of Columbia.

Another MOU was signed between the National Youth Authority (NYA) and the National Training Service (SENA) of Columbia in the field of youth entrepreneurship.

Ghana’s part of the agreements was signed by Ms Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Alhaji Dr Mustapha Ahmed, Minister of Youth and Sports; while Mrs Patti Londono Jaramillo, the Deputy Columbian Minister of Foreign Affairs initialed for her country.

Ms Tetteh in her remark observed that the two countries established relations on June 23, 1988, but remained dormant until 2008 when the two countries decided to strengthen their bilateral relations with the opening of a Columbian diplomatic mission in Accra in July 2013.

Ms Tetteh said the bilateral ties were taken to a notch higher in 2014 when she paid an official visit to Columbia from February 21-22, during which she discussed with her Columbian counterpart issues relating to agriculture, education, youth development, culture, sports and health.

She noted that the establishment of a resident diplomatic mission in Accra on July 2, 2013 had opened up further opportunities for the cooperation between the two countries.

She said presently, various forms of cooperation between Ghana and Columbia ranged from the teaching of Columbian Spanish for Ghanaian diplomats and public servants, to cooperation between the NYA and SENA, the Columbian Institution responsible for vocational training.

Others are cooperation between the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service and the Narcotic Control Board and their counterpart Columbian institutions.

She mentioned that other areas of cooperation were the health sector, especially malaria and herbal medicine research.

She lauded Mrs Claudia Turbay Quintero, the Columbian Ambassador to Ghana, for the tremendous efforts in promoting the relationship between the two countries.

Mrs Jaramillo said Columbia would assist Ghana to build strong institutions to promote the socio-economic development of the country.

She said soon, as part of students exchange programmes, Columbian students would be sent to Ghana to learn English Language.

She said south-south cooperation between countries such as Ghana and Columbia was an essential and strategic partnership development tool, capable of promoting sustainable growth and socio-economic development.

Alhaji Ahmed said Ghana stands to benefit a lot under the MOU in the area of sports and youth entrepreneurship development.

He said his Ministry would seek collaboration between its Columbian counterparts to enable Ghanaian athletes to go to Bogota for training prior to going to the next Olympic Games.

He praised Columbia for having developed its sporting infrastructure to the highest standards in the world.