General News of Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Source: GNA

President Mahama meets Turkish counterpart

President John Dramani Mahama, who is on a four-day visit to Turkey, will this morning hold talks with President Abdullah Gül at the Presidential Palace in Ankara and later co-chair a bilateral session with President Gül.

A statement in Accra on Tuesday from the Office of the President said some cooperation agreements that had been under discussion since President Gül’s visit to Ghana in 2011 would be signed.

It said President Mahama would meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and later attend an official dinner hosted by President Gül in his honour.

President Mahama would lay a wreath on the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of Turkey. The site is also the final resting place of the late President ?smet ?nönü, the second President of Turkey.

Turkey, like Ghana, is aggressively looking for new business and trading partners, new opportunities and a greater role on the international stage. It also has solid democratic credentials like Ghana, and President Mahama is looking to enhance relations with one of the world's progressive emerging economies, promote trade relations and business partnerships.

On Monday, President Mahama inaugurated a new Chancery for the Ghana Mission in Ankara, two years after Turkey re-opened its mission in Accra. He also met the Ankara Chamber of Industry reminding them that Ghana remained the best hub to reach the rest of the African market, the statement said.

He said Ghana, a peaceful and stable democratic country in Africa, offered immense investment opportunities in infrastructure development, oil and gas, agro-processing, power generation and pharmaceuticals.

“Visit Ghana and see for yourselves the opportunities for investment that are available”, President Mahama said.