Stakeholders Deliberate on Improved Service Delivery

In a bid to improve service delivery and its impact on the country's competitiveness in the sub-region, the Department of State for Trade Industry and Employment, in collaboration with the Public Regulatory Authority (PURA) and the Committee on Mainstreaming Trade and Trade Related Matters (MATTRICOM), recently organised a one-day workshop on trade in services on the theme " Dialogue on trade in services; how to improve service delivery in the Gambia. The event was held at Dunes hotel in Kololi.

The workshop focused on avenues to improve service delivery in the country in order to make The Gambia a competitive regional trade hub.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the deputy permanent secretary, at the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment, Mrs. Naffie Barry, said that the workshop is part of her department's programmes, together with the committee on mainstreaming trade-related issues in national policy. The forum, she said, was designed to encourage dialogue among stakeholders to improve the trading environment in The Gambia.

"The importance of this workshop cannot be over emphasised because of the ever-increasing role of the service sector in the Gambian economy,' she said. "National statistics estimate that in The Gambia services accounted for about 60% of GDP in 2007 therefore, it goes without saying that trade in services can potentially be a driving force for Economic growth," she added.

She said that the objectives of the workshop are to discuss the problems and constraints that the country is currently facing but to also look at the avenues to improve service delivery in order to increase The Gambia's competitiveness in an increasingly globalised world.

 The workshop attracted different sectors of government across the country as well as the private sector and tour operators.