Ambassador Turbay Quintero in a group photo with the Ghanaians after the opening ceremony
A total of 63 Ghanaian diplomats and civil servants have commenced a Spanish language training in Accra.
The course is expected to run from September to December 2019.
About 22 of the trainees are staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
The rest are drawn from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies such as Ministry of Tourism, the Ghana Museum and Monument Board, Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC),Ministries of Communications, Defense, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, National Folklore Board, and the Narcotics Control Board.
The September-December 2019 training is the sixth phase of the programme which started in February 2014.
The programme seems to among other things, enable trainings learn Spanish as a second language, as well as the Columbian culture and arts.
It was first introduced by the Columbian Government in 2008 and around the world, over 2,000 individuals have benefited from the training.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the training on Monday, September 16, 2019, at the Foreign Ministry in Accra, the Columbian Ambassador to Ghana who doubles as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Claudia Turbay Quintero,
said the programme was one of the most significant initiatives between Ghana and Columbia
She said it would enable the trainees to learn about Columbia and Southern America cultures.
In a speech read on her behalf, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mohammed Habibu Tijani,
said the importance of studying foreign language cannot be overemphasized.
According to him, Ghana and Columbia signed a language exchange Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2014.
He stated that “this MoU has not only consolidated our bilateral relations, but has resulted in the successful completion of five phases of the Spanish Language Course.”
BY Melvin Tarlue