ISLAMABAD  :  The head of Ghana’s Foreign Service Training Institute, Ambassador Akua Sekyiwa Ahenkora, emphasized the importance of South-South cooperation on emerging transnational challenges like climate change and cyber security. She was speaking at a roundtable discussion organized at the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS).

Ambassador Ahenkora maintained that since transnational challenges transcended boundaries, it was imperative for all states to join hands especially the developing countries which were suffering the most because of them. She shared that it was her first trip to Pakistan and added that it helped her address a lot of misperceptions about the country and left a great impression on her. Based on her own experience in Pakistan, she called for greater people-to-people interactions between Pakistan and Ghana.

Ambassador Ahenkora shared that there was a vibrant Pakistani community in Ghana, which was playing an important role in the Ghanaian economy as well as cementing Pakistan-Ghana relations. She called for greater efforts for further strengthening the ties between the two countries, especially in the area of bilateral trade relations. She urged Pakistani authorities and businessmen to host Pakistani product fares in Ghana to boost Pakistani exports. She also shared that a total of 34 Ghanaian diplomats had studied in Pakistan’s Foreign Service Academy. 

Speaking on the occasion, President IRS Ambassador Jauhar Saleem highlighted the growing importance of Africa on the world stage and underlined that Pakistan was keen to build on its ties with all African nations, including the Republic of Ghana.