 Gweith alfa'r Fexilence. Mae ymddeithasol yng Ngheithing, mae ymddeithasol yn cael ei ffordd ar hyn sydd yn byw i gael mwy o'r Fexilence. John Dramani-Mohamed, y Prifysgにadr y Repwlad Ganna a'r First Lady, her exilence, maeddon Lordyna-Mohamed, i mewn fywch at yr Fexilence. Fy fyddeithasol ymddeithasol, mae ymddeithasol yr ymddeithasol neu gyda'i cerdyddog yr brod ac yn gallu gweld yn rhan o bob rhan o gael i gael o'r fwyllgor i gael i gael i'r rhaglen Iacol, a fyddai i'n rhan i'ch gael i teuluol i�lul dros rhoi ein hwnnw i dda wedi'u gyda'i pergyflennu i ddymian hwnnau'r llaw, ac i Sabiw rhan i'r sefydliadau cyffredinol i ddechrau'r gl 바�? Mae'n fwyllgor i'r cyflym eich byddai i gael i'u gael i gael i'r lleidio gyda'r lleidio i gael i'r Ffwrdd Cymru i ymddianth Cymru, a ddod yn ddod am 14 March. Mae'n ffordd i'r Pwyllgoriedd Ysgrif Weinidog y Gweithdeithasol yn ymddianth Cymru i'r Ffwrdd Cymru i'r Pwyllgoriedd Ysgrif Weinidog yng Nghymru, ac mae'n rwyf yn gwych os ymddianth Cymru i'r prifysgwr ymddianth Cymru i gael i'r ffyrdd cyfrifesau aethau i gael i'r ffyrdd Cymru i'r Pwyllgoriedd ymddianth Cymru i'r in other parliaments, so I very much hope that you enjoy your time here in Scotland and in our Scottish Parliament. Thank you very much. Can I now invite His Excellency to address the meeting please? Thank you very much, right honourable deputy presiding member. I want to thank you for the privilege to be with you in Holyrood and thanks to for the honour done myself and my wife to observe the First Minister's question time for the first time. The question time attests to the long standing democratic tradition of the United Kingdom within the context of a devolved system of governance. Although we do not run a parliamentary system of governance in Ghana, our parliamentary standing orders makes provision for question time for ministers of state, and having said before as a minister of communications, I experienced that first hand the uniqueness of this democratic practice, but I must say it does not come anywhere close to the time-tested tradition of the first minister or the prime minister's question time. Right honourable deputy presiding officer, Ghana and the United Kingdom have built a very strong bilateral relationship that has transcended our historical colonial past. Our relations have grown over the years nurtured by strong people-to-people contacts, a dynamic diasporan community, regular high-level visits, and significant economic ties. I'm therefore positive that my visit to Scotland could further strengthen these relations and see the exploration of even new areas of trade and investment between us. This is a country that has over the years led the world in heavy industries such as steel, shipbuilding, coal mining, and also in oil and gas. Ghana has under my administration been on a quest to diversify the base of our economy. This is aimed at transforming us from a primary commodity exporter, an import-dependent economy, into an export-led value added one. In this journey of transformation, Scotland provides us with a good opportunity for collaboration in developing our manufacturing sector. We've already established an impressive collaboration in developing our human resource and management capacity in the oil and gas industry. A growing number of the personnel working in our fledgling oil and gas sector received their training here in Scotland. Since 1926, when Scotland received its first Ghanaian student, many of your institutions of higher learning, including the University of Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen, have continued to provide professional training to many Ghanians. One of the greatest signs of our cooperation and friendship is the Scotland Ghana Society, which sprang out of the large number of teachers, doctors, scientists, and missionaries who worked in the Dengol Coast and returned here to Scotland. I'm happy to be returning to the Scottish Parliaments after the visit in the year 2000 by President Jerry John Rawlings. Let me use this opportunity to express the appreciation of Ghanians to the University of Glasgow for the recognition they gave President Rawlings during his visit, and subsequently their Santéheny Otoonfo, or say to the second, who were both awarded honorary doctor of law degrees. Ghana has played a prominent role in their affairs of our continent from the process of decolonisation to the formation of the OEU, the process of continental integration to the significant success in implementing the millennium development goals. It is my determination to continue this tradition in maintaining Ghana as a model of democracy and constitutional governance in Africa, who work to deepen the process of regional integration and ensure the free movement of people and goods across the region. Africa is an emerging continent with a fast growing population, where therefore a continent in a hurry. A ticking youth bulge requires that we speed up the process of economic growth in order that we can provide decent jobs for the large number of young people graduating from our schools every year. A celebrated economic growth expansion of manufacturing and agriculture will guarantee jobs and staunch the risky flow of young Africans across the Mediterranean in search of new opportunities in Europe. Ghana will continue to be an advocate and actor in international peace and security on the global stage. We currently have our troops in five different international peacekeeping theatres across the world. Our global ranking in governance, human rights, transparency and rule of law is strong. Ghana has had six successful successive elections since 1992 and this year's election will be no exception in terms of transparency, fairness and security. The many elections held in several African countries last year sends a clear message that Africa is imagined and building a solid foundation of participatory democracy that will form the basis of guaranteeing the life of dignity and prosperity for our people. In conclusion, let me on behalf of my co-chair of the SDG Advocates Forum, Prime Minister, Anna Salzbank, I invite Scotland to join hands with us in other countries of the United Nations to combine resources towards the realisation of the UN sustainable development goals. I thank you very much for the honour done me. Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for that interesting and informative address to members of Parliament. I now invite our cabinet secretary for culture, Europe and external affairs Fiona Hyslop, MSP, to respond to the address. Your Excellency, President Mahama, First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Ministers and Delegates from Ghana, Deputy Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament and members of the Consular Corps. Thank you so much for your address and your presence here in our Parliament today. We are very pleased that you have chosen to visit our country, which can only help deepen the friendship between Scotland and Ghana. I know that you have a very busy programme ahead, with a visit to Aberdeen University tomorrow, where they will host a special honorary degree ceremony in your honour. Your visit is particularly personal, as we have heard, given that Commonwealth Day was celebrated three days ago on 14 March, with both Scotland and Ghana part of this family of nations. The Commonwealth values of humanity, equality and tolerance are universal. Of course, we hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and recognised the part that Ghana played in the success of the event, as well as the success of the initiatives such as Scotland House, Pride House and the Legacy programme, which aims to ensure that the benefits of the games are shared by all. Scotland has always been an outward-looking nation. We want to build links and strengthen ties with countries right around the world, and we appreciate that Scottish economic success will be realised through strengthening our links with the global economy and the opportunities that this brings for increasing trade, attracting investment and sharing expertise. Your excellency, in your inaugural address, you said that Ghana should and will be a place where economic opportunities are available to everyone. Here in Scotland, we share the drive for shared economic opportunity. Scotland's economic strategy reinforces our long-term vision for Scotland's economy, which is based on a fundamental principle. By becoming a fairer society, we will also become a more productive and a more prosperous economy. The strategy also identifies internationalisations as an integral strand in helping Scotland to build a fairer and more equal society both at home and abroad. Your excellency, I know that one of the key purposes of your very welcome visit to Scotland is to look at the strengthening of trade and investment ties, and the Scottish Government took an important step in doing that almost two years ago when our international trade and investment agency, Scottish Development International, set up its first office in Africa, working out of the British High Commissions in your country's capital city of Acre. You come here at what are very challenging times globally across a range of industry sectors, and Governments are working hard to ensure the prosperity of their key industries. Your excellency, I know that you are working hard to try to diversify your own economy away from key commodities and to do what you can to reap the benefits that your small but growing oil and gas industry will bring. I am sure that our visitors here today will be aware of the history of the development of the North Sea and the global oil and gas energy centre that is Aberdeen. Whilst we, like you, are inevitably feeling the impact of the lower oil price, we do so from a position of some strength. Strength from our people who have developed and helped to bring innovation to the industry over the almost 50 years that we have had exploration and production, strength from our companies who have adapted and improved the way that business has been done in the sector, and strength from our institutions who continue to build the framework to enable business in Scotland to flourish, for example, the oil and gas technology centre in Aberdeen. Sharing knowledge, information and technology is vital in that regard. Local content is quite rightly of crucial importance and no more so than in Ghana, so international companies recognise the importance and mutual benefit of local content and participation. They want to see that effort that they put into training people to benefit both the company and the individual that they have trained in the future ahead. Forging partnerships between foreign and local entities help to build on each other's strengths in predictive business. We in Scotland look forward to helping to grow and encourage greater collaboration between our companies to mutual benefit in this important sector. The connections between our two countries are not just commercial but people to people. For example, through academic exchange such as the University of the West of Scotland's newly established centre for African research on enterprise and economic development and the work taking place at the centre for African studies in Edinburgh University, one of the world's leading centres of Africa-focused knowledge and research. Those people-to-people connections are strong, through the members of the Ghanaian community who have chosen to make Scotland their home. I will close on that note, Your Excellency. Listen to your address. Give me a renewed appreciation of the depths of the relationships that are being forged between our two countries. We look forward to many more years of partnership between our two nations, Scotland and Ghana. I once more warmly thank His Excellency John Dramani Bahama and the First Lady, Mrs Ladina Mahama. I understand that it is your first visit to Scotland and I do hope that it will not be your last. I also thank Fiona Hyslop, our Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs, for her response to the address, which covered many areas of mutual interest. Once again, Your Excellency, I really hope that you enjoy your time here in the Scottish Parliament and the rest of your visit to Scotland.