Reception hosted on National Day of Ghana

Islamabad:On the occasion of Ghana's 67th National Day, a grand reception was hosted by Ghana's Honorary Consul General Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt and Vice Consul Omar Shahid Butt at their residence.

The ceremony was attended by large number of diplomats, parliamentarians, senators, high ranking military and civil officials. Important personalities from other walks of life also attended the event in large numbers.

The High Commissioner of Ghana posted in Iran, Eric Owusu Boateng, specially attended the reception. Foreign Secretary Cyrus Kazi and Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Africa Shahr Yar Akbar also specially participated.

Among those who participated in the ceremony were the Dean of Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador of Turkmenistan Ata Jan, the Dean of Africa, Ambassador of Morocco, Mohammad Karmoun, Ambassadors of Nepal, Jordan, Finland, Azerbaijan, Deputy head of missions of United Kingdom, Japan, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic. Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and the European Union, High Commissioner of Kenya, in addition to senior diplomats of the United States, Sudan, Egypt, Somalia, Cyprus, Defence attaché of France also participated.

Among other important personalities that participated were Secretary General People's Party Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, famous banker Farooq Hasan, former president of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce Bashir Dawood, Chief Executive of Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital Dr. Shaukat Bangash, former ambassador Khalid Meh­mood, former minister Ijaz Durrani. Former High Court judge Mudassar Khalid Abbas, Heshmat Ali Kazmi, well-known businessman Luqman Afzal, Muhammad Arsalan Khan Asad Ansari, Jameel Abbasi and Khursheed Qureshi were also present. On this occasion, the anthems of both countries were played, and the cake was also cut. Speaking at the ceremony, Eric Owusu said that Ghana is a gateway for Africa, Pakistani investors are investing in Ghana in large numbers.

He said that Pakistan and Ghana have excellent political and diplomatic relations, there is a need to transform these friendly relations into a sustainable economic and trade partnership.