Accra, Oct. 4, GNA 96 Ghana has expressed its appreciation for the assistance it has received from the Republic of Korea and that country's willingness to share experiences and expertise in Ghana's effort to accelerate its development.

Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister of the Interior, expressed these sentiments at a reception in Accra to mark the National Day of the Republic of Korea.

He said in addition to concessionary loans, the Republic of Korea had assisted Ghana to build a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder manufacturing plant, rehabilitate the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), purchase heavy equipment to modernise the construction sector and improve delivery in the water sector.

The Minister said the growing involvement of Korean corporate giants including Samsung, S K Engineering and Construction, Daewoo and others in Ghana's development process had also facilitated the entrepreneurial growth in the country's business sector.

He said like Korea, Ghana was committed to democracy, good governance and the Rule of Law and would continue to strengthen democratic institutions, engendered freedom of expression to create the enabling environment for the pursuit of sound economic policies. The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Mr Lee Sang-pal said this year the Korean government had adopted a new long-term national plan called 93Vision 20 30 Korea=94 aimed at focusing on a search for concrete measures to build a nation brimming with hope.

He said the year 2006 had been very meaningful in the bilateral relations between his country and Ghana, citing the reciprocal visits of the two countries' foreign ministers and noted that the visits had impacted greatly on the relations between the two countries.