Zubari Qureshi
On the occasion of the Republic of Ghana’s 67th National Day, Ghana’s Honorary Consul General in Islamabad Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt and Vice Consul Omar Shahid Butt hosted a reception that was attended by a large number of guests demonstrating there existed warm and cordial relations between the two countries.
The ceremony was attended by a large number of diplomats, parliamentarians, high ranking military and civil officials, business community representatives, notable personalities from other walks of life and members of civil society.
A large number of the African countries’ diplomats and nationals also attended the reception.
High Commissioner of Ghana in Iran, Eric Owusu Boateng, had travelled all the way to attend the event.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Africa Shahryar Akbar represented the Pakistan government and extended warm greetings to the leadership and people of Ghana on the national day.
Pakistan enjoys cordial relations with all the African countries and believes that there exists huge potential in diverse areas to promote the bilateral trade and investment with Ghana it was shared on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Eric Owusu said Ghana was a gateway to Africa and the Pakistani investors are investing in Ghana in large numbers.
He said that Pakistan and Ghana had excellent political and diplomatic relations, thanks to our Hon. Consul Generals, and there is a need to transform these friendly relations into a sustainable economic and trade partnership.
For Ghana, relations with Pakistan are of special importance. We have good people-to-people contacts, economic and commercial ties with Pakistan and want to further enhance them, especially trade and investment. On the occasion, national anthems of both the countries were played, and a cake was also cut.
Among those who participated in the ceremony were the Dean of Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador of Turkmenistan Ata Jan, the Dean of Africa, Ambassador of Morocco, Mohamed Karmoune, Ambassadors and diplomats from Nepal, Jordan, Finland, Azerbaijan, Deputy head of missions of United Kingdom, Japan, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, the European Union, Kenya, in addition to senior diplomats of the United States, Sudan, Egypt, Somalia, Cyprus. Secretary General People’s Party Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, famous banker Farooq Hasan, former president of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce Bashir Dawood, Chief Executive of Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital Dr Shaukat Bangash, former ambassador Khalid Mehmood, former minister Ijaz Durrani, Luqman Afzal, Muhammad Arsalan Khan Asad Ansari, Jameel Abbasi and Khursheed Qureshi were also present.
