Ghana, Kyrgyzstan sign visa waiver agreement

Ghana has signed a visa waiver agreement with Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian nation, for diplomatic and service passport holders in a historic bilateral engagement.

The visa waiver agreement is expected to be further escalated to ordinary passport holders in the near future, as the two nations have established, for the first time, a diplomatic engagement.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, confirmed the newly established diplomatic relations with the Central Asian country in a social media post last Monday following his visit to Kyrgyzstan last week.

“To demonstrate our resolve and trust as friendly nations, we signed a visa waiver agreement for holders of diplomatic and service passports in the interim with plans to expand to ordinary passport holders in the near future, and a second agreement to establish formal political consultations,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa’s visit to Kyrgyzstan makes him the first African Foreign Minister to be hosted in that country, where he met with the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, and the Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Jeenbek Kulubayev, on a number of diplomatic engagements. 

Economic partnership

The Foreign Affairs Minister said the two states had also committed to establishing economic partnerships that would be of mutual benefit to both economies.

“Ghana and Kyrgyzstan are both eager to form a strategic and visionary partnership on a number of priority areas.

“Ghana, as the leading gold producer in Africa and Kyrgyzstan, being a leading gold producer in Central Asia, with its famous Kumtor Gold Mines, have committed to a mutually beneficial partnership in the interest of our two economies,” Mr Ablakwa stated.

This new partnership, according to the minister, seeks to explore diversified markets for the country’s growing economy, particularly with Kyrgyzstan, a country celebrated as having one of the best Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates in the world over the last three years.

He expressed delight in the new South-South cooperation with Kyrgyzstan, which was also recently accorded AU observer status.