Ghana and Switzerland yesterday signed two agreements on air transport and public procurement aimed at deepening the existing bilateral relations between the two countries. The agreements followed bilateral talks between Ghana's delegation led by President John Evans Atta Mills and Switzerland's delegation led by the President of the Swiss Confederacy, Mrs Doris Leuthard, in Bern. A communiqué jointly issued by the two delegations said the discussions at the talks focused on appraising bilateral relations between the two countries particularly in the areas of economic and trade relations and co-operation, as well as regional and multilateral issues. According to the communiqué, the signing of the air transport agreement between the two countries replaced the existing agreement which dated back to 1961. It said a further agreement regarding a project to promote sustainable public procurement to weed out corruption in the public sector, was also signed. The communiqué explained that the project, which was part of the economic development of the Swiss government with a funding of over $2.7 million, was intended, to introduce the principle of transparency, accountability and sustainability in public procurement. It further explained that in doing so, fee access to information would be assured for all interested parties regarding public tenders. The communiqué pointed out that Ghana had been a priority country in Switzerland's economic development co-operation programme since 2002 and for which the country was concentrating its efforts via general budgetary support and technical assistance at the improvement of general macroeconomic conditions and the transparency of public finances. "The Swiss government is also interested in the promotion of general conditions conducive to trade and the improvement of the investment climate, as well as the strengthening of the regulatory framework in the field of infrastructure and improvement of efficiency in the energy sector,” it said. The communiqué expressed the continued support of the Swiss government to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre in Accra, which trains African peace missions in West Africa. Source: Daily Graphic