Negotiations with President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko held talks on 8 June with President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana, who is on an official visit to Belarus.

This is the first highest-level visit in the history of bilateral relations. The development of cooperation with Ghana is part of the comprehensive task set by the President of Belarus to establish mutually beneficial contacts with promising partners on the African continent.

The talks between Aleksandr Lukashenko and John Dramani Mahama took place at the Palace of Independence. The Presidents primarily discussed projects in trade and economic cooperation, specifically the comprehensive mechanization of Ghana's agriculture and the strengthening of its food security. The leaders also considered prospects for cooperation in the humanitarian sector, focusing on priority areas such as education and healthcare.

During the one-on-one negotiations Aleksandr Lukashenko welcomed John Dramani Mahama in his capacity of the President of the country taking into account the fact that the current leader of Ghana had been to Belarus before. "It is a pleasure for me to meet with you. Back in the day, two years ago you visited Belarus and got familiar with our country," he remarked.

The Belarus President said: "Right now we are trying to make up our minds about the African continent, about whom we can rely on, with whom we should cooperate first. Although we are a technological country, we are not gigantic the way China or the USA are. We cannot push a single front and cooperate with all states of the African continent. This is why we want to find our place on the continent of the future. We would very much like to find our friends and a serious foothold in economy on the western shore of this unique natural formation that the African continent is."

"Moreover, we understand your policy. And we are ready to cooperate with you in many areas," the Belarusian leader stated. "The philosophy of our policy in the world and primarily on the African continent is very simple. We are ready to ship products of our manufacturing sector, our agriculture, and the services sector to you in Africa. At the same time, we are ready to train the personnel for you that can operate these complicated machines and vehicles. Moreover, you know these machines and vehicles."

Aleksandr Lukashenko reaffirmed Belarus' readiness to help Ghana address its task of ensuring food security.

"You have set a noble goal, namely to ensure food security through agricultural development, and primarily through the mechanization of agriculture. We are a machine-building country with well-developed agriculture, and in this regard, we may be of interest to you," the head of state said. "If you have an interest, we can significantly assist you in solving your main task - ensuring Ghana's food security."

In this context, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that Ghana has a large population of over 35 million.

The President also stated Belarus is ready to advance cooperation with Ghana in the field of security. "Because we have quite a well-developed military technology complex. We are ready to cooperate with you in military personnel training," he said.

"We are interested in your goods. And if we can support your interests here in Europe, you can rely on Belarus. We would be very interested if you built your enterprises on Belarusian territory, joint ventures with Belarusians," the Belarusian leader said.

As an example, the head of state suggested creating a cocoa-bean processing enterprise with subsequent export of its products across the Eurasian continent.

"I am convinced that your visit in the capacity of the head of state to Belarus today will be able to secure the foundation of our relations that we need in order to build the edifice of more serious relations," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

During expanded-attendance negotiations Aleksandr Lukashenko said that constructive political dialogue and the positive experience of contacts on international platforms create favorable prerequisites for launching full-scale cooperation between Belarus and Ghana. "We are ready to share the competences we've developed in various branches of the manufacturing sector and agriculture, to use the entire range of available formats of interaction," he stressed.

"Our strength lies not only in the export of food but in the availability of the full range of competences starting with mechanical engineering and fertilizers and ending with domain-specific education and agrarian science. All of it is at the service of our partners, including in Africa," he stressed.

During the current visit to Belarus John Dramani Mahama was also made familiar with economic capabilities and the natural uniqueness of Brest Oblast. "I am confident that the history of this heroic land and modern technologies of the enterprises that successfully develop here have convinced you that we have resources for cooperation between our regions," Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.

The Belarus President pointed out that the Ghana President is accompanied not only by an official delegation but also by respected representatives of the private sector and a Belarus-Ghana business forum is supposed to take place on the sidelines of the visit. "We expect it to become the reference point for active direct interaction of the business circles in the fields of agriculture and food, manufacturing sector and infrastructure development, healthcare and pharmaceutics, education, transportation, and logistics," the head of state concluded.

"I invite our Ghanaian friends to take a closer look at the wide range of machinery and equipment produced in Belarus. Our trucks, buses, road-construction, utility, fire-fighting, and mining equipment have proven themselves well in Africa and will be in demand as Ghana's leadership works to improve socio-economic indicators and raise the population's standard of living," Aleksandr Lukashenko said with confidence.

The Belarusian leader assured that the goals set by the President of Ghana for his country can be fully achieved with the use of Belarusian technologies and specialists. "We are also ready to train your people in these technologies," he emphasized. "As I have already said, we are open to you. Please study our experience, and if anything proves useful, we will cooperate with you."

The head of state noted that Belarus, in turn, is interested in the stable import of cocoa beans for its food industry, as well as many other Ghanaian goods.

"In the modern world, distance is no obstacle to cooperation, especially since we have learned to adapt logistics for deliveries to Africa to all kinds of challenges, from illegal sanctions to military conflicts," the President stressed.

"At present, the trade between our countries absolutely does not meet the potential of our bilateral partnership," the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that Belarus and Ghana are working to establish the closest possible cooperation between their banks and insurance companies, which must provide the financial infrastructure for trade flows.

"We see great potential in trade in services. Belarusian information technology, education, and healthcare are available to our partners without any barriers, political restrictions, or export limitations," the President assured.

The head of state added that coordinating the parties' efforts to expand trade ties and economic cooperation will be handled by the Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation under the intergovernmental agreement, the signing of which is scheduled during the Ghanaian President's visit. "I suggest convening the first meeting of the committee without delay to put into practice all the agreements reached during your visit. We need to have a concrete action plan for developing trade between our countries," he added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed confidence that the Belarusian-Ghanaian highest-level talks mark the beginning of a great friendship and mutually beneficial economic cooperation. "A number of topics were discussed earlier during our bilateral meeting. I now suggest that we exchange views in a broader setting on the issues that our delegations have been working on," the Belarusian leader concluded.

Following the talks with President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana Aleksandr Lukashenko told journalists that Belarus and Ghana are opening up a new chapter in cooperation, now in a bilateral format.

"We are opening a new chapter in our cooperation, now in a bilateral format. The talks confirmed that we have a solid foundation for future progress in the trade and economic area, in strengthening food security, and in such humanitarian areas as education and healthcare," the head of state said.

The Presidents of Belarus and Ghana are determined to dynamically develop cooperation across all these areas, placing the economy at the forefront. During the talks, the parties discussed the mutual opening of embassies in Ghana and Belarus. "The President [of Ghana] raised the issue of opening embassies in both countries during our talks. We support such an initiative, but we would very much like our joint intergovernmental committee [on trade and economic cooperation] to begin its work. And for the embassies to carry out corresponding work in furtherance of that effort," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian head of state described the comprehensive mechanization of agriculture and the opening of a multibrand center for Belarusian products in Ghana as flagship projects.

"We need to quickly create a plan for our cooperation: a kind of roadmap, similar to those we have with other African countries, which would allow us to move forward efficiently. I emphasize: our major interest lies in creating, as the President of Ghana said, an appropriate hub for Belarusian products in West Africa," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian leader also assured that Minsk is ready to contribute to strengthening Ghana's food security: "We already have such experience, and it shows that these projects will objectively lead to an expansion of partnership in many areas," he said.

The President expressed confidence that, following the visit and the introduction to Belarus' capabilities in machinery and food production, the guests from Ghana would clearly see the seriousness of Belarus' intentions and proposals.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the talks also touched upon the topic of agricultural processing. The head of state emphasized that this makes great sense when production facilities for the relevant goods, that is, raw materials for processing, are already in place.

The President paid special attention to the creation of joint ventures both in Belarus and in Ghana. "I am counting very much on fruitful cooperation. Once again, I emphasize: we are ready not only to supply, build, and manufacture machinery, but also to train your people in the technologies that Ghana needs today. No topics are off limits, and this concerns not only agriculture and industrial supplies, but also the defense industry, which the President of Ghana raised during our talks," Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.

The Belarusian leader pointed out that a number of agreements were signed following the highest-level negotiations, significantly strengthening the legal framework for interstate cooperation between Belarus and Ghana. "They are intended to intensify trade and economic cooperation, interaction between the ministries of agriculture, chambers of commerce and industry, and other ministries. Travel will become easier, especially for holders of diplomatic and service passports, so that cooperation issues can be resolved as quickly as possible and to mutual benefit," he said.

"We have reached agreements that will soon be implemented in concrete joint projects across various areas. I have no doubt that the effect will be significant and certainly mutually beneficial," Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

The head of state expressed confidence that the Ghana President's visit to Belarus would mark the beginning of a strong friendship and fruitful economic cooperation between the two countries. Aleksandr Lukashenko also thanked John Dramani Mahama for inviting him to visit his farm. He noted that by that time Belarusian specialists and ministry officials would visit Ghana to present concrete proposals not only for signing memoranda but also for concluding cooperation contracts between enterprises of the two countries.

The President wished success to the specialists of Belarus and Ghana: "Once again, I emphasize that everything will depend on your desire and determination to build cooperation with our country. We will do our part quickly and efficiently, because we are people who keep our word."