The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has underscored the importance of an improved Spanish Language Skills to enhance effective relations between Ghana and her Spanish speaking counterparts.
Spanish language is one of the most spoken languages in the world, with 543 million Speakers.
Speaking at a closing ceremony of a three-month Colombian Spanish Language Course for Ghanaian Diplomats and Public Servants, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry, Henry Techie-Menson described the programme as “an ideal example of cultural diplomacy at work”
The training begun as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Ghana and Colombia in February 2014 where more than forty (40) students each year until the outbreak of the novel Corona virus (Covid-19) in December 2020.
Consequently, this resulted in a break in the training and migration of the studies to a virtual platform. So far more than 450 Ghanaian Diplomats and Public Servants have benefited from the initiative.
According to Mr. Techie-Menson “It is the Ministry’s wish that with improved Spanish language skills, we will be better positioned to explore the world and engage more meaningfully with the larger Spanish-speaking Community, particularly our friends from Colombia.
It is also my hope that the relations between Ghana and Colombia, particularly in the field of education will continue to grow as we deepen interactions”.
Colombia’s Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Claudia Turbay Quintero believes the completion of the 8th Phase of the course will “further strengthens the relations between our two countries, and it’s one of the best instruments for linguistic, cultural and friendly rapprochement, which allows both Colombia and Ghana’s diplomacy, to be more agile, complete and direct”.
”The Spanish language has provided the Government of Ghana a tool by which it equips its Public Sector; enabling efficient communication and closeness in the professional field and especially at the diplomatic level, with the Hispanic World”.
Story: Henry George Martinson@radiogoldlive.com
