Accra, Forty public servants and some security personnel who undertook the Colombia Spanish Language Course have been presented with Certificates of Completion and charged to promote the ideals of both countries.
The course, the fourth edition, which started from April to August this year, enabled the participants to study both the Colombian Language and Culture in levels one, two and three.
Mr Mohammad Habibu Tijani, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, said at the closing ceremony in Accra that the course was introduced in 2014 following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Ghana and Columbia in February, the same year.
He said the MoU created the appropriate platform to further deepen Ghana-Colombia relations, and enhance Spanish Language Proficiency for Foreign Service officers and other public servants from various public service institutions.
Participants were drawn from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces, Narcotics Control Board, Ministries of the Interior, Tourism Culture and Creative Arts and the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
Mr Tijani commended the graduands for widening their professional scope through the learning of a second language adding that the globalised world had increased interconnectivity between people, economies and businesses, which had made the promotion of global culture, political and economic integration very critical.
In this regard the learning and speaking of a second language would provide the means of interacting between the people of Ghana and Colombia, he said.
Mr Tijani said with improved language skills, diplomats would be better positioned to explore the world and engage more meaningfully with the larger Spanish-Speaking community.
He thanked the lecturers and instructors from the coordinating institution; the Pontificia Bolivariana University of Medellin in Colombia, for imparting a wealth of knowledge to the participants.
He expressed the hope that the Ghana- Colombia bilateral cooperation, which centred on key areas such as higher education, health, arts and culture, would be boosted in the coming years.
Ms Claudia Turbay, the Columbian Ambassador, commended the Government of Ghana for making efforts at bonding with the people of Latin America through such courses, adding that more of such relations needed to be nurtured.
Some of the participants, who spoke with the GNA, expressed joy at the opportunity to learn the Spanish Language and Culture as it would help them work effectively to advance their careers as diplomats.
Source: Ghana News Agency
