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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey with Ronald Gerard Strikker
Mr. Ronald Gerard Strikker, outgoing Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ghana, bade farewell to Ms. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
Mr Strikker, a career diplomat with a background in law, was appointed Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ghana in 2016.
Previously, he was Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He also held various positions as Dutch envoy to Nairobi, Tunis, Santiago de Chile, Bangkok and Paris.
During the meeting in Accra, the Minister congratulated Mr. Strikker on the success of his mission to Ghana.
She acknowledged that Ghana and the Netherlands had long-standing and successful bilateral relations, dating back to the 1970s.
The Minister reaffirmed Ghana’s determination and personal will to continue forging strong cooperative partnerships and to consolidate and deepen relations between the two countries for the mutual benefit of our two peoples.
She said that during Mr. Strikker’s tenure, relations between the two countries were characterized by the regular exchange of high-level visits, which offered the Ghanaian and Dutch leaders the opportunity to renew their commitment to s ‘tackle issues of mutual interest.
She cited the visit to Ghana in November 2017 by Mr. Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and that of Ms. Carola Schouten, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands in February 2019.
She also referred to the visit to Ghana in November 2017 of Mrs. Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
In addition, the Minister recalled the visit to the Netherlands of a delegation of five members of the select parliamentary committee on foreign affairs of Ghana, headed by the then chairman of the committee, Mr. Emmanuel Bandua in August 2016.
She thanked the Dutch government for its strong support to Ghana’s health sector over the years, including providing funds for the construction of five medical clinics in the western region.
She also mentioned the installation of 52 X-ray systems across Ghana, equipped with computer aided detection for tuberculosis (CAD4TB) and teleradiology by the Dutch companies Oldelft Benelux and Universal Hospitals Group as well as the construction of ‘a water treatment plant in Navrongo.
Ms Ayorkor Botchwey observed that the Netherlands was the main destination market for Ghana’s non-traditional exports in 2016 and stressed the need to strengthen trade relations between the two countries by leveraging Ghana’s reception of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.
The Minister welcomed the strong engagement and participation of the Netherlands in the ongoing EU-Ghana Sustainable Cocoa Dialogue, which has been a great success so far.
She expressed the hope that in the coming years the two countries could explore new areas of cooperation, especially in the fields of energy, metallurgy and machinery, where the Netherlands had expertise and a huge comparative advantage and urged the Ambassador to suggest these areas to his successor.
She assured him that the government would work together and support his successor to ensure the improvement of bilateral relations between Ghana and the Netherlands.
For his part, Mr Strikker said it was a great opportunity for him to serve in Ghana which allowed him to contribute a little to the great relationship between the two nations; in areas such as the political atmosphere, economic diplomacy and the trade agenda.
The outgoing Ambassador informed the Minister that he will retire from active service at the end of his mission in Ghana.
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