The Chinese government on Wednesday agreed to construct a modern office complex for the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Work on the office complex is expected to begin by the end of this year and to be completed within two years.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, announced this in Accra, when the Embassy of the People's Republic of China donated office equipment to the ministry.

The equipment, which comprised 25 Dell desktop computers, five IBM laptops and 10 HP printers all estimated at 40,000 U.S. dollars, was the first donation to the ministry following the fire that razed its building two weeks ago.

The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Yu Wenzhe, who made the donation, also added that Ghana and China had reached an agreement for the construction of the office complex.

Yu said the Chinese government would speed up the process to ensure the commencement of work on the office "as soon as possible" to serve the long-term agenda of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Following the fire that gutted the Foreign Ministry Affairs, officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are currently using the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) as their temporary offices.

Alhaji Mumuni said the Chinese government had sent down a prototype of the office complex to the Ghanaian government to make its input.

Consequently, he said, the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL) had examined the prototype and made input based on the government's recommendation.

Alhaji Mumuni said the Chinese government was studying the input of the AESL to re-tune the planning or structuring of the office complex.

He said the Ghanaian and Chinese governments "are in the final stage of consultations" on the structure of the office complex. Alhaji Mumuni said the project, which "fits into the long-term plan" of the ministry, had been on the drawing board for long.

He said on assumption of office, the government began negotiations with its Chinese counterpart on the need to carry out the project, saying that "this government resuscitated the project".

He said the burning down of the ministry's building made the construction of the office complex more urgent. Alhaji Mumuni said the officers of the Ministry were occupying the AICC as a short-term measure, and indicated that the President was expected to relocate them to a place soon, following the submission of a report by the committee set up by the President to investigate the cause of the fire.

He said the ministry was in the process of reconstructing its information system and work schedules to ensure that they worked without obstruction.

Alhaji Mumuni thanked the Chinese government for donating the office equipment and said it was a manifestation of the bond friendship between the two countries, which is hinged on mutual trust.

"The support will help us to overcome the reverses following the burning of our offices," he stressed. Yu said the government and people of China were "very concerned about the sad calamity that destroyed the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs".

He said the Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister had sent a special message of condolence to the Ghanaian government following the fire outbreak.

Yu intimated that the donation of office equipment was a show of friendship and solidarity with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Besides, he said, it was in recognition of the co-operation that the Chinese Embassy received from the ministry.