The Republic of Korea has donated 22 Kia vehicles to Ghana towards the hosting of the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting slated for December 5th to 6th in Accra.
The 22 Kia vehicles consist of 12 protocol vehicles and 10 vans.
UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meetings focus on securing concrete commitments from Member States to fill critical gaps, leverage new technologies and address key priorities to improve the operational effectiveness of peacekeeping missions.
Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, received the vehicles on behalf of Ghana from Mr Jung-Taek Lim, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ghana.
The Minister conveyed the gratitude of the Government for the support the Korean Government had decided to extend to Ghana’s preparations to bring the entire peacekeeping community into the country.
She noted that the occasion symbolised the strength of the relations between Ghana and the Republic of Korea and further underscored the importance of their longstanding friendship.
She expressed confidence that this gesture would open many doors for further collaboration in the future.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said she was particularly inspired by the willingness of the Korean Government to do more for Ghana despite the many impactful projects they had already undertaken.
She said the donation of 22 vehicles for the Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting reinforced the genuineness of the friendship they were building together.
“And I see the generosity being shown today as a message of hope from a true friend in the future of our relations,” she.
She also expressed gratitude to the Korean Government for the IT equipment Ghana received from Korea in July this year.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said it was a source of pride for Ghana to be the first African country to host the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting since its inception; adding that it placed Ghana in a privileged position in the discussions the Ministerial Meeting would engender in December.
She said the historic nature of this year’s event heightened the stakes and increased the burden of ticking all the boxes in the preparations toward the conference.
“Given the logistical challenges the conference is likely to impose on us as the host, we approached a few friends to provide some level of support to the preparatory process that began in May last year,” she said.
“Korea was one of the first to commit support to our preparations.”
The Minister said the support that the country was receiving from the Korean side minimised the burden and gave Ghana an opportunity to successfully organise the flagship UN peacekeeping event.
On his part, Mr Lim Jung-Taek, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Ghana, expressed the hope the vehicles, along with ITproducts, which were donated in July, would help Ghana host the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference successfully in December.
He said as a co-host country of this year’s UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference and the past-immediate host of the Conference, Korea would provide full support for the successful completion of this year’s Conference.
The Ambassador also reaffirmed that Korea would continue to expand cooperation with Ghana at the UN and other international fora.
At the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Madam Ayorkor Botchwey and Mr Jung-Taek Lim, on behalf of their respective countries.
Source: GNA
