Hon. James Gyakye Quayson (MP), Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, paid a working visit to Serbia from 4th to 8th July 2026 as leader of Ghana’s delegation to the inaugural Bilateral Political Consultation between the Republic of Ghana and the Republic of Serbia, held on Monday 6th July 2026. The Serbian side was led by State Secretary Damian Yovich.
Both leaders recalled the historic and fraternal ties between Ghana and Serbia, anchored on the friendship between Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and President Josip Broz Tito, and their leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
Hon. James Gyakye Quayson (MP) expressed appreciation for Serbia’s support to Ghana and reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to further strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation. He commended Serbia for preparations been made to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of NAM in Belgrade in September 2026, recognizing Belgrade’s historic role as host of the 1961 Belgrade Summit that established the NAM. This, he added, reaffirmed the shared heritage of both countries in the Non-Aligned Movement.
He then touted Ghana’s stabilised macroeconomy, industrialization and value-addition agenda aimed at processing 60 percent of cocoa, gold, and other strategic commodities domestically. He further highlighted ongoing macroeconomic reforms, improvements in the business environment including tax incentives, and the role of Ghana as Host of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
State Secretary Damina Yovich briefed the Ghanaian side on Serbia’s rapid growth in the ICT sector and expressed readiness to partner with Ghana in engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, data centres, and pharmaceutical production.
The two sides further discussed ways of deepening cooperation in education, health, tourism, parliamentary exchanges, trade and investment, agriculture, Agri-tech and Agro-processing, biotechnology, minerals, start-up ecosystems, infrastructure, culture, and sports. The two sides noted the excellent cooperation in education and agreed on the need to strengthen the World in Serbia Programme which currently supports over fifty (50) Ghanaian students and to develop a structured Labour Mobility Framework to ensure safe and orderly migration. The existing Visa Waiver Agreement for Diplomatic and Service Passports was also commended as a positive step.
Both sides underscored the importance of re-establishing the Ghana-Serbia Joint Economic Commission to provide a framework for enhanced economic and commercial cooperation. Serbia expressed appreciation to Ghana for confirming its participation in EXPO 2027, Belgrade, with both sides committing to ensure the participation of Ghanaian businesses in the Expo, as well as foster collaboration between their respective investment promotion agencies. They resolved to maintain momentum through follow-up engagements and to leverage EXPO Belgrade 2027 as a flagship platform to deepen mutually beneficial trade and investment cooperation.
The Consultations served to identify priority areas for cooperation and to establish a clear roadmap for follow-up actions ahead of EXPO 2027, Belgrade and the reactivation of the Joint Economic Commission.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
