Mr Charles Owiredu, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, who said this, announced that the process for selecting students was ongoing with successful students expected to arrive in Cuba by the end of January.

The Deputy Minister was holding discussions on strengthening socio-economic relations with a six-member Cuban delegation, which paid a courtesy call to the Ministry, on Monday. The delegation, led by Dr Mrs Marcia Cobas Ruiz, Deputy Minister of Public Health, comprised Ms Vivian Herrera Cid, General Director of Foreign Trade at the Ministry for Foreign Trade and Investment and Ms Martha Elena Romero Bermudze, Director of International Operation of the Banco Financiero International, a Cuban Bank.

Other members are: Ms Miladys Orraca Casterillo, President of Cuban Medical Services, Ms Laura Antonia Vives Castillo, Commercial Specialist Biocubafarm and Mr Pedro Luiz Gonzalez, Cuban Ambassador to Ghana.

Mr Owiredu thanked the Cuban Government for the tremendous support it had provided towards Ghana’s service health delivery through the Cuban Medical Brigade Assistance Programme.

“Often, people express amazement at the zeal with which medical doctors work so hard to improve the conditions of patients in rural and under-privileged communities,” he said.The Minister commended the fruitful relations dating back to Ghana’s independence, saying it had been based on shared values and interest in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Ghana is the first country south of the Sahara to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959.Mr Owiredu said a proposal had been made to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Ghana-Cuba Diplomatic relations by organising special events.

He announced that the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia had agreed to honour the invitation of their Cuban counterparts to further deepen the bilateral relationship.

Dr Mrs Ruiz, for her part, pledged Cuba’s continuous support to Ghana in the areas of health and education, which has been the traditional areas of cooperation between for the past 60 years.

"Our visit today is to explore, augment and define the agreement to help move it to the next level,” she said.