Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, the Minister of Trade and Industry, led Ghana’s Delegation while Mr Mahmoud Hojjati, the Iranian Minister of Agriculture, led a 60-member Delegation from his country.A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in many fields of activity was also signed by Mr Kyerematen and Mr Hojjati.

The thematic areas for cooperation include agriculture, transportation, housing cooperation, political and strategic consultation, trade, investment, banking and financial cooperation.  The rest are energy, mines, industry, scientific, health, cultural, defence, security and legal.

In addition, both Ministers also signed a communique on lease of land for investment in Ghana.  On the other hand, Mr Pius Enam Hadzide, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports and Dr Abdul Mahdi Bakhshandeh, the Iranian Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, signed a MoU on youth and sports.

The two-day meeting sought to enhance the levels of partnership and cooperation to incorporate new thematic areas of policies concerns and initiatives between the two countries.

Mr Kyerematen noted that the PJCC had come to confirm the strong friendship that Ghana shares with Iran. He said that it had provided the forum for both countries to take stock of the progress made in the various areas of cooperation and to suggest ways forward to improve the existing areas of cooperation.

He urged both sides to continue working together to effectively implement these agreements signed during the Sixth PJCC Session. He called for the setting up of technical working groups in both countries, which would from time to time monitor the status of the implementation of these projects; stating that ‘anything worth doing, is worth doing well’.

“Ghana looks forward to holding the next PJCC IN Iran at a date to be announced after consultations between both sides,” he said. Mr Kyerematen said the signing of the agreed minutes of the sixth PJCC Session between Ghana and Iran would further enhance the bilateral relations existing between them.

Mr Hojjati commended the constructive discussions and negotiations that took place during the two-day Sixth Session of the Ghana – Iran JPCC. He called for the strengthening of the bilateral cooperation between the two nations.