Ghana, like several other countries in the world, is going through economic difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

As a result, the government is in discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support the country to improve its balance of payment position.

In a meeting with the outgoing Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Philipp Stalder, at the Jubilee House in Accra last Friday, President Akufo-Addo said the government was making an effort to return the country on the path of accelerated growth, and will not compromise on its industrial transformation programme.

According to him, the industrial transformation of the country’s economy had been the major focus of his administration, adding that the programme, which had resulted in the creation of new companies and expansion of several others, would be pursued aggressively.

The discussion between the government and the IMF was going on smoothly, the President said, and expressed optimism that the fund would assist Ghana to stablise its balance of payment.

While commending the Swiss Ambassador for his successful tour of duty in the country, he said the cordial relations between Ghana and Switzerland was worth celebrating.

The two countries have had successful trade relations in the areas of gold and cocoa; and President Akufo-Addo believes the two nations have the potential to expand the relations to new frontiers.

“We need to broaden the scope of our transaction, it will make a lot of sense to do so,” he said

Mr Stalder, on his part, supported the need for Ghana and Switzerland to diversify their trade relations beyond gold and processing of cocoa.

He said the two nations, under his period as diplomat, had signed agreements on climate change while the political leaders of both countries had paid visits to each other.

The outgoing ambassador was optimistic that the economic relations between Ghana and Switzerland would be strengthened in the coming years.