Ghana and the BENELUX Union which is made up of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have agreed to enhance their cooperation at both the bilateral and multilateral levels.

The commitment was made when the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey held bilateral and multilateral discussions with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BENELUX Union, compromising of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Mr. Jean Asselborn, and the Ambassador and Special Envoy for the Sahel of the Kingdom of Belgium, Mr. Bart De Groof, on Monday, 5th June, 2023 in Accra, as part of their two-day joint working visit to Ghana.

During a press briefing after the discussions, Ms Botchwey acknowledged the long-standing relations between Ghana and the BENELUX countries and lauded the shared efforts to expand the spheres of cooperation at both the bilateral and multilateral levels.

On discussions concerning regional security, Ms Botchwey acknowledged the contributions of the BENELUX countries to peace and security in the Sahel and the West Africa sub-region in addressing terrorism and violent extremist activities and efforts to restore normalcy to the affected countries.

In the area of trade, the Minister encouraged businesses in the BENELUX to forge partnership with their Ghanaian counterparts and explore the opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

She was hopeful that the fruitful discussions will contribute to deepening the relations that exist between Ghana and the BENELUX Union, as well as Ghana and the individual countries.

For their part, the BENELUX Foreign Ministers commended the Accra Initiative and pledged their support to address terrorism and violent extremist activities to restore normalcy to the affected countries in the sub-region.

The BENELUX Foreign Ministers also agreed to cooperate with Ghana at the multilateral level to address challenges such as climate change, food insecurity amongst others.

Also present at the meeting was the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, officials of the Foreign Ministry and a delegation from the BENELUX countries.