Otumfuo, Dignitaries, Paramount Chiefs, Honourable Ministers.
First of all I would like to thank Your Majesty for this warm and colourful welcome. Allow me to present to you the other members of my delegation:
Your Majesty, it is a great honour to meet the King of the Ashanti, who bears the same name as your famous ancestor Osei Tutu I, who three hundred years ago received David van Nyendael, the first Dutch envoy to Kumasi.
That brings me to the first reason for our visit. Ghana and the Netherlands are commemorating three hundred years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations between your country and ours. Not surprisingly, we started this part of our trip in the town and castle of Elmina. That is where the Dutch headquarters was established and from where the mission of envoy David van Nyendael took several weeks to reach Kumasi. Luckily, today we did the journey in less time and in greater comfort.
Ever since that first mission, Ashanti and the Netherlands have been partners and our trading relationship has never ceased to exist. The second reason for my visit is to emphasise the excellent relations that exist between us in so many fields today. Nowadays Dutch children eat chocolate that is made from the Golden Beans, the cocoa beans from this region.
Palm oil and gold are still important items in our trade. And of course there are Ashanti now living in the Netherlands. They and many other Ghanaians contribute substantially to the ties between our countries!
The third reason for my visit may be the most important one: we want to look forward to a common future. On the global level, people from Ghana and the Netherlands share responsibilities, for the environment, for example. I am pleased to be associated with issues of global water management, the regional aspects of which are currently being debated in Accra. On a national level, the governments of our countries have agreed on a broad and sustainable relationship of development cooperation and Your Majesty is personally involved with the promotion of public education and public health.
On a personal level, we hope that this visit will inspire young people - and older people as well - from each country to take an interest in the other.
Otumfuo, I am very impressed by the beauty of your Royal Court and by all the honours you are giving us. I sincerely hope that Otomfuo will be able to make a visit to our Kingdom later this year. The people of the Netherlands and all the Ghanaians living there will be very happy to welcome you.
Thank you for your hospitality.
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