KNOW THE MAN ALAN CASH III Diplomacy and International Public Service Mr. Kyerematen was appointed Ghana’s Ambassador to the U.S.A. when the N.P.P came into office in 2001. As Head of Ghana’s Diplomatic Mission to the United States of America, he was considered the NPP Government’s top foreign envoy and performed with distinction over the 18-month duty tour, and his significant achievements include: Establishment of the US-Ghana Economic Council, a high-level advocacy and advisory group established to deepen economic relations and bilateral trade between Ghana and the United States; Coordinating Government’s re-negotiation of the Westel agreement with Western Wireless and Valco Agreement with Kaiser Aluminium Company coordinating the implementation of the first Investment Forum in the United States to showcase the economic potential of each of the 10 regions of Ghana Establishment of the first web-based Ghana Skills Bank, a database designed to facilitate access to Ghanaian professionals and experts worldwide. Initiated plans for the establishment of a Ghana Cultural Centre in the United of States. Developed an “Operation Save Your Schools Programme” for Ghana residents in the United States to assist their alma mater primary/middle schools. Mr Kyerematen served as a trade advisor at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He heads the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC); a centre created by the ECA with the main objective of strengthening the human and institutional capacities of African governments to formulate and implement sound trade policies and participates more effectively in trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.He is leading efforts in enhancing advocacy for trade in Africa, building the capacity of trade negotiators, as well as developing capability at the country level in trade policy formulation. In addition, he is coordinating the implementation of technical assistance programmes to enhance the productive capacity and competitiveness of African countries, and also providing support for analytical as well as evidence-based research on trade related issues. Mr Kyerematen is one of the leading members of the technical team that provided strategic guidance and support to the African Union Commission in developing and elaborating an Action Plan for Boosting intra-African Trade and preparing a framework for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area. As part of this effort, he was designated as a Special Envoy of the African Union to hold consultations with selected African Heads of State prior to the 18th African Union Summit of Heads of State and Government in January 2012. Ghana, on 17 December 2012, nominated Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen for the post of WTO Director-General to succeed the current Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, whose term of office expired on 31 August 2013. His candidature has received the backing of the Africa Union (AU)but he did not make the final shortlist for the position. During his interaction with the media to state his case to head the WTO, Kyerematen noted that the WTO provides “a firewall against protectionism”. He was asked whether the director-general should take a stand in the battle over whether increasingly wealthy countries such as Brazil should continue to be able to self-identify as developing, a status that allows them to be freed from some of the subsidy restrictions placed on developed countries. Kyerematen said that the director-general should undertake “an open, coherent” dialogue on the topic. There needs to be debate, he said, over whether “there is a need to subdivide the existing divisions. On whether technical acumen is the sole requisite for the job, Kyerematen opined that “political insights are vital for the job because “in the end you have an organization to run.” Over the years, Kyerematen has been invited to speak at various fora, sharing his expertise on international topics on the dynamics of global trade and sustainable development.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 12:26:11 +0000
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