President Atta Mills with Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe
High-Powered government delegation from Ghana and Togo on Tuesday held bilateral talks designed to strengthen security, as well as boost trade and commerce between the two countries. The meeting formed part of programmes lined up for the two-day official visit of the Togolese President, Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, to Ghana.
This was the first time that the Togolese leader was visiting Ghana since President Evans Atta Mills assumed the reins of office in January 2009.
Highly placed Government sources at the meeting said the two delegations spoke at length on Social, Political and Economic developments which threatened the existences of the two countries. According to the sources, the meeting dwelt extensively on the energy needs of the two countries and explored ways under which manufacturing and industrial concerns would not be affected by any energy shortages. It said the delegations expressed concern about the spirally prices of petroleum products on the world market and their concomitant effect on the economy of the two countries. The escalating prices of crude oil on the world market, the sources argued, had thrown overboard annual projections made by the two governments at the beginning of the year.
The sources said the delegations laboured for several minutes thinking about what options could be taken amidst the rise in crude oil prices to stabilize the situation and which would not worsen the hardships of the people and cause social unrest, agitation and incitement against the two governments. The Togolese delegation, the sources said, was happy about the discovery of oil and gas in Ghana stressing that it was the hope and prayer of the Togolese government that Ghana would supply Togo with such resources with the passage of time.
The delegations, the source claimed spoke about cross-border crimes and the havoc they had caused the two people and property in their respective countries.
‘Cross-border crimes caused the two countries millions of cedis annually; resources which the two countries needed badly to revamp their economy and ensure the quantitative and qualitative improvement in the conditions of the life of the broad masses of the people’. The sources said.
It said cross-border crimes also had impacted negatively on the investment climate in Ghana and Togo, stressing that the earlier a long-lasting antidote was found to the menace, the better it would be for the development of the two cities.
The sources said the meeting also commented on health hazard like the swine flu, which was assuming pandemic proportions and advanced strategies each country had adopted to control the situation in case of a massive outbreak.
The two delegations also talked extensively about ways to improve trade and commerce between Ghana and Togo, stressing that the ECOWAS protocol encouraged trade among member countries.
