Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has met with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker.

The meeting took place on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, on the occasion of her four-day official visit to Qatar. She is in Qatar from 1st to 4th March 2021 to deliver a message from President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Emir of Qatar.

During her meeting with the Qatar Airways CEO, the Minister said expressed her appreciation for the warm reception and courtesies extended to her and the members of her delegation upon arrival at the Hamad International Airport by protocol staff of the Airline.

She extended warm greetings from Mr Akufo-Addo to the CEO and added that it had been the wish of the President to personally welcome the CEO to the seat of Government as earlier envisaged to coincide with the historic inaugural Qatar Airways flight to Accra in April last year; an event which had to be postponed owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She expressed the appreciation of the Government of Ghana to the management of Qatar Airways for their decision to operate weekly flights from Doha to Accra during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when many businesses were cutting back on expansion and operation plans.

Madam Ayorkor Botchwey said the operations of Qatar Airways in Ghana, without a doubt, will add value to Ghana-Qatar relations by boosting trade and other related business activities, as well as enhance people to people contact.

She urged the CEO of Qatar Airways to use his good offices to encourage Qatari investors to take advantage of the attractive business and investment climate in Ghana, within the context of the Government’s industrialization agenda to invest in Ghana.

She reiterated her optimism that the various economic cooperation agreements signed between the two countries will serve as a sustainable framework for forging stronger bonds of cooperation between Ghana and Qatar.