A warm welcome to our distinguished guests from Ghana, especially His Excellency the Vice President. Welcome, too, to the representatives of British business.

Ghana is a country of which we have high hopes. I had the pleasure of visiting Accra earlier this year and I was impressed by what I saw. Under the government of President Kufuor, Ghana has led the way in West Africa on good governance and democracy. It is a sign of Ghana’s renewed self-confidence that it is likely to be the first country to volunteer for peer review under NEPAD. I have no doubt that it would receive a good report.

Ghana has traditionally been a successful market for British business and there is plenty of scope for expansion, especially in areas like agriculture, construction, IT and tourism. It has a business friendly government.

The UK and Ghana have long enjoyed close relations. We have a shared history, similar legal and education systems and there is a large and thriving Ghanaian community in Britain. With every year that passes our relationship grows stronger.

I congratulate those responsible for organising this splendid event. It can only serve to bring us even closer together.