The next NDC government will formulate an economic diplomacy plan

General news for Saturday, October 24, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-10-24

The next government of the Democratic National Congress (NDC), from January 7, 2021 to January 6, 2025, will formulate an economic diplomacy plan that will serve as a policy guide for diplomats and all Foreign Service personnel.

NDC’s Economic Diplomacy Plan would provide clear results under Ghana’s economic diplomacy agenda, improve the general conditions of service for foreign service personnel, including; restore vehicle liability exemptions for returning staff.

The NDC Election 2020 “People’s Manifesto: Jobs and Prosperity for All”, focused on International Relations and Foreign Affairs, also seeks to harness and place Ghana as the headquarters of the African Continental Free Trade Secretariat at the heart of our industrialization campaign by ensuring May Ghana become the center for trade, transport and investment.

The NDC, under the leadership of former President John Dramani Mahama as the presidential candidate and Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemenag, the vice-presidential candidate, said it would restore high respect for career diplomats, enhance esprit de corps and significant career progression that career diplomats deserve by ensuring that the majority of ambassadors and envoys were selected from among career diplomats.

The NDC said it would establish a Consular Support Fund as an item in the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to care for grieving Ghanaians abroad who may need urgent consular assistance.

It would conduct an asset inventory of all diplomatic assets with a view to implementing an aggressive asset maintenance and enhancement program; This review will also attempt to address the phenomenon of unsustainable rental spending in favor of the more financially prudent option of owning our own property.

The NDC said that if the shift to rule again occurs, it would deepen Ghana’s famous pan-African credentials by presenting a series of policies aimed at forging stronger and more concrete ties with Africans in the diaspora and African Americans beyond the occasional visits offered. for “PANAFEST” and “The year of the return” to a more permanent relationship of mutual benefit.

The NDC said it would ensure that, in keeping with the party’s record, “we will actively seek many more Ghanaians to take up senior positions in reputable multilateral organizations.”

The NDC said it would renew Ghana’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063 by fully taming and aligning our development goals in all sectors with these global imperatives.

It would further enhance Ghana’s internationally renowned image in peacekeeping operations, which marked a milestone this year in commemoration of 60 years since Ghana’s first peacekeeping deployment to the Congo.

The next NDC government would improve the conditions for participation and also increase the number of women in troop deployment according to modern UN standards.

The NDC said it would protect the inviolability of all foreign mission facilities in Ghana as required by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to avoid the recent shameful spectacle, which created a stance diplomat. between Ghana and Nigeria when the latter’s properties were demolished in Accra.

The next NDC government would reassess the geographic representation and economic importance of Ghana’s diplomatic and consular missions and establish new strategic missions for national development, especially in the areas of trade and investment, tourism, and educational opportunities.

The NDC in its manifesto pledged to appoint trade officers to Ghanaian diplomatic missions specifically designated to aggressively market Ghana’s competitiveness in trade and investment activity and spearhead the implementation of agreed strategies.

It would ensure that Ghana continues to play an active and leading role in ECOWAS and works in conjunction with other Member States to consolidate the Community’s achievements and achieve its defined objectives.

The NDC government would also increase collaboration within the United Nations, the Commonwealth, and other multilateral organizations to combat existing and emerging threats to global peace, security, and sustainable development, including; climate change and global warming, international terrorism, cybercrime, piracy, money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking and pandemics.

The NDC said that its next government would deepen Ghana’s involvement in Francophone and UEMOA affairs in order to better understand those organizations and reap maximum benefits from them given our geographical position of being surrounded by three Francophone countries.

According to the NDC, Ghana provides an agreeable environment for the enhancement of productive international relations both bilaterally and multilaterally for the adoption and promotion of common but beneficial positions, fostering mutual understanding and cooperation that are inherent to its overall national growth. , security and political and socioeconomic development.

The NDC said Ghana’s foreign policy will continue to be driven by the nation’s commitment to credible and sustainable international peace, security and development as necessary prerequisites for the effective promotion and protection of national interests and aspirations illustrated as outlined in national policies.