Ghana and Latvia must improve their business and diplomatic ties.

According to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, there is a firmer foundation for interstate cooperation as a result of the expanding economic ties between entrepreneurs in Ghana and Latvia.

He claimed that the groundwork had been done for the development of official and corporate ties between Ghana and Latvia.

When the Latvian Foreign Minister, Edgars Rinkevics, paid him a courtesy visit yesterday at the Jubilee House in Accra, the President made this statement.

Mr. Rinkevics is in the nation on an official visit with a delegation of 17 Latvian business leaders and other government representatives. He was escorted to the presidency by his Ghanaian counterpart, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.

He is Ghana's first foreign minister from Latvia.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the historic visit laid the foundation for a new relationship.

He highlighted his enthusiasm that the visit had already resulted in some business-to-business interactions between individuals from the two countries.

He pointed out that, among other things, Latvian companies were already helping Ghana with its airport and passport procedures.

That, he claimed, "was a basis for us to do a lot of things together".

Among the areas where the two nations may advance cooperation, he listed political and commercial partnerships.

Security
Speaking of recent violent unrest in the Sahel region, particularly in Burkina Faso, the President said Ghana was focused on events in its neighboring nations where Islamic terrorists were wreaking havoc.

In order to defend its borders and population from the advances, he assured that Ghana was doing everything in its power.

He continued by saying that Ghana was actively participating in regional efforts to halt terrorist advances in West Africa, stressing that these issues were of great concern to his nation. He also expressed his appreciation for Latvia's support of the Accra Initiative.

enhancing relationships
With the first business forum, the outstanding relations that the two nations had built up over the previous five years were to be strengthened, according to the Latvian Foreign Minister.

In the context of the United Nations and other international organizations, he continued, "Now we want to expand our bilateral and political relations to exchange views on some of the hot topics on the international agenda."