The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has lauded the outgoing Danish Ambassador, Ms Tove Degnbol, for her contribution to the strengthening of the bilateral relations between Ghana and Denmark.
She said over the last five years, Ms Degnbol’s commitment to the relations led to the realisation of the new strategic sector cooperation between Danish and Ghanaian authorities in maritime and statistics and other areas.
Ms Botchwey, who is the Member of Parliament for Anyaa-Sowutuom, lauded the envoy when she paid a farewell call on the minister in Accra on Friday as she had ended her tenure as the Danish Ambassador.
Ms Degnbol, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, was appointed Ambassador in 2015 to replace Ms Margit Thomsen, who served in the same capacity for two years.
According to Ms Botchwey, the envoy’s “highly distinguished work in Ghana” further enhanced the fruitful relations between the two countries through the exchange of high level visits, including that of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
She said during the four-day visit in November2017, a number of Memoranda of Understanding and agreements were signed, including a letter of Intent between Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) and Bluetown Aps.
Others, she said, included the Base of Pyramid Partnership Agreement between Novo Nordisk Pharma Gulf FZ-LLC and the National Catholic Secretariat with regard to the Health Directorate of the National Catholic Health Service.
“One of the high points of her tenure was the role she played in the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and Grundfos Holdings A/S (Grundfos Ghana Ltd) in a bid to help Ghana meet the SDG goal of achieving universal access to water by 2030,” she said
Also on the list of the Danish Ambassador’s achievement, according to the Minister, was the pact signed between Ghana National Red Cross Commission and APM Terminals and Amend, an African road safety specialist.
Ms Botchwey said those agreements had boosted the age-old and cordial Ghana-Denmark relations, which date back to the 1960’s and characterised by development cooperation in several sectors, including health, water and sanitation, rural roads and decentralisation.
Others were the support to the judiciary sector and civil society for poverty alleviation, and the promotion of sustainable development through programmes and projects implemented by the Danish International Development Agency.
“Ghana remains strongly committed to promoting friendly and cooperative relations with Denmark,” the Foreign Minister said while commending MsDegnbol and wishing her well, adding that she hoped the outgoing envoy would continue to support the enhancement of the bilateral relations.
Responding, Ms Degnbol thanked the government of Ghana for the support during her tenure and reiterated her country’s dedication to the longstanding relations and development of both countries.
Source: The Ghanaian Times
