KINGSTON, Jamaica — President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the Ghana-Jamaica Joint Commission for Cooperation that has been dormant for some time, will be reactivated.

President Akufo-Addo said it is intended that this will be done by this year or the first quarter of next year “so that the various areas of engagement that we are talking about can be properly structured within a legal framework for the doing of business between our two countries”.

He was issuing a joint press statement along with Prime Minister Andrew Holness following bilateral talks at Jamaica House yesterday. The president is on a two-day official working visit to Jamaica.

He noted that reactivating this Joint Commission is “an extremely important step” in solidifying the historical and cultural ties between Jamaica and Ghana.

“We also have the potential of building on those ties, important economic relations, trade and commercial relations; and in order for our two countries to get maximum value and benefit from the ties that are between us, it is important that we take advantage of those ties to build these strong economic relations,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo’s visit forms part of a Caribbean tour to promote the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019,” which is a major landmark marketing campaign targeting the African – American and Diaspora Market to mark 400 years of the first enslaved African arriving in Jamestown Virginia.

He noted that his visit to Jamaica “completes a very worthwhile week that I have had here discussing with the various Caribbean leaders how we can strengthen the relations across the waters” and finding ways to “(strengthen) each other…and growing and empowering our economies to play a more critical role in the new global architecture”.

“We believe that when we leave here… after addressing the Diaspora and we go back home…we are going back home with concrete decisions and initiatives that we are going to put into action,” he said.

As part of his schedule of activities for Saturday, President Akufo-Addo was also led on a tour of the Seville Great House and Heritage Park in St Ann.

The president will conclude his visit today by giving remarks at the Opening of the 8th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.