GAMBIA open for business Department of State for Trade, Industry & Employment Interview with: Hon. Mr. Musa Sillah, Secretary of State for Trade, Industry & Employment Contact: Independence Drive Banjul, The Gambia Tel: (220) 228 369 Fax: (220) 227 756 E-mail: mhsillah@qanet.gm October 4th, 2000 The Gambia has been a democracy for 4 years now. Can you tell us what have been the major achievements of your Ministry so far? Our Ministry is responsible for designing the best environment for trade, investment and private sector operations. Our main achievements have basically been related to the enhancement of the private sector and FDI in the Gambia. During the last four years we have been revising our policies in order to attract foreign investment. We also regularly organize investment promotion campaigns and seminars here and abroad in order to educate foreign businessmen on what the Gambia has to offer. We organized for example in June 2000 an Investment Forum during the Roots Homecoming festival. We also organized in August 2000 another seminar for the visit of a delegation from the Republic of China. We also organized a seminar in Hanover in Germany for the Expo 2000. And we have more seminars to come, mainly targeting the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The re-export trade used to contribute to 25% of the GDP in 98. Today, it is rather experiencing a decline, partly due to the pre-shipment inspection measure brought in by the Minister of Finance in September 99. As Minister of Trade & Industry, what is your evaluation of the re-export trade today, and what is your Ministry doing to address that issue? The re-export trade has been declining over the last months not only because of some measures taken within the Gambia but also because of measures brought in by our neighbours. Some of their policies recently implemented have affected our trade performance. However, I am very optimistic as far as our business prospects are concerned. We are embarking on trade promotion and talks with the neighbouring countries, particularly Senegal, Guinea Bissau, and Guinea Conakry. Those are our main destinations in terms of the re-export of our products. In May 2000, we paid a special visit to Senegal in order to boost our re-export activity. You were mentioning the fact that there are impediments, which prevent you from re-exporting easily to the neighbouring countries. What are those hindrances and how do you intend to lift them? Basically, those hindrances are mainly related to the barriers implemented at the borders, preventing our goods from moving freely between countries. So, between members of the ECOWAS, there is a need for consultation in order to identify the constraints and if possible reduce them. The Gambia is a member of the ECOWAS and its citizens are already benefiting from the harmonisation of insurance services, travellers cheques, etc. As far as your sector is concerned, how satisfied are you with the Economic integration of the sub-region and when do you foresee monetary integration? Currently, there is a vigorous campaign among ECOWAS countries to ensure that monetary integration will soon take place. Efforts are being made to form the second monetary zone of the region by 2003. This discussion has been going on for several years has taken a dramatic turn last year in terms of political commitment of member states. We are talking about accelerated implementation of ECOWAS programmes and we have high hope that they will be concretised soon. In the recent years, more foreign investors look at the ECOWAS countries as potential investment destinations. What are the main incentives brought in by your Ministry in favour of foreign investment in the Trade & industry sector in the present day? From a general point of view, the main incentive to any potential investor is our political and macroeconomic stability. Also, our Department of State is trying to introduce fiscal incentives. The latter concerns duty concessions to the import of equipment, raw materials, etc. which are necessary for any investment in the country. We also offer tax holidays, priority allocations of land and many kinds of exemptions, which can enable a businessman to get a return on investment as quickly as possible. The Department of State has scheduled the process. We are currently working on reducing the bureaucracy. We are also working on the creation of a one-stop shop so that potential investors can address an investment promotion agency, which will be responsible for all investment matters in the country and also within the free zones. That institution should be in place by the end of the year 2000. The Vision 2020 program is meant to involve the private sector in the search for social and economic stability and the reorientation of the Gambia towards an export-oriented agricultural and manufacturing nation. What measures have you or will you take in order to reactivate the industrial sector and which goals are you mainly targeting in that sector for the next 20 years? Our aim is to build on the competitive advantages of the Gambia, especially in the area of trade. In this regard, my Department of state is preparing a project called the Trade Gateway Project with World Bank support. This project aims at selling the Gambia as the Gateway to West Africa. As you know, The Gambia is seen as a supermarket for a great number of countries in the sub-region. When talking about the re-export trade, many businessmen from neighbouring countries come to The Gambia to buy their products. And the Government is working vigorously on facilitating that trade within the sub-region. You may also be aware of the fact that the Gambia's economy depends heavily on tourism. We believe The Gambia has a comparative advantage in tourism and a lot of experience too and want to capitalize on that. Another area we want to develop is telecommunications services. As you may be aware, the Gambia has the best telecommunications system in West Africa, with a call completion rate of 60% which is well above the African average of 34%. We want to build on these achievements. We plan to create teleport facilities within our processing centres for international operations. This is a major component of the Gateway Project. We are also trying to promote the manufacturing industry as much as possible through projects such as the Export Processing Zone. We have also the great advantage of our proximity to European markets. So, we have the double advantage of being able to access easily European and West African markets. I strongly believe that the Gambia is the natural Gateway to West Africa. The WTO is endeavouring to develop trade globalisation. Do you believe The Gambia is ready to face up to the challenges of that phenomenon? The Gambia may not be ready in terms of competing with developed countries as we are starting from different basis. But if we can level the playing field through strategic partnerships, we should be able to face the competition introduced by the globalisation. In that purpose, we need our trading partners to open up their markets and let us have easier access to them. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to compete with them and develop our industry. In that regard, developed countries should make an effort towards developing ones and leave room for them to compete. On a more personal level, you are today Minister of Trade, Industry and Employment, so can you tell us what will be your greatest challenge in the coming months? I would like to see more investment in the country. I would like to see the private sector exploit the full potential of our resources. Our Government is already strongly committed to the private sector and it is important that we maintain that commitment. The more our industry grows, the higher the employment level becomes and the less social instability we get. It is also a challenge to complete the Gateway Project and get the participation from foreign investors. Bearing in mind that our readers are potential investors, what message would you address to them? I invite your readers to explore The Gambia. Your publication is certainly an opportunity for them to know more about our country and eventually venture into it and take advantage of the incentives offered by the Government. We encourage investors to take advantage of the openness of our economy, which is designed to improve the welfare of our population.   Read on   © World INvestment NEws, 2001. This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Gambia published in Forbes Global Magazine. May, 14th 2001 Issue. Developed by AgenciaE.Tv