The
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China has clarified the duty-free trade
agreement signed by the governments in Banjul and Beijing, saying Chinese
products entering The Gambia “will not be duty-free”, although Gambian products
to China will be duty-free.
In
his maiden State Opening address on Monday at the National Assembly, President
Adama Barrow stated: “I am proud to announce that my Minister of Trade has
since signed a letter of agreement with China for duty-free trade between our
two nations. This will remove the need for costly trans-shipment of Gambian
exports to China through a third country. It will also make our goods more
competitive, and boost our export potential to the world’s largest market.”
Speaking
yesterday to The Point, the Information Attaché at the Embassy of the People’s
Republic of China to The Gambia, WAN Peng, who was very elated and happy about
the agreement between both nations, said products from China to The Gambia will
not be duty-free, as his country wants to remain a true friend of The Gambia,
and would therefore do everything they could to help The Gambia’s economy grow.
“We
would like to state that we will be paying duty and tax for Chinese products
entering The Gambia, while products from The Gambia to China will be
duty-free,” Wan told this paper.
