The
draft GIEPA Regulations 2016 was on Tuesday validated at a workshop held at the
Paradise Suites Hotel.
Facilitated
by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment and the
Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA), the draft regulations
underwent the consulting services of Amie Bensouda & Co, PL and were
developed as the GIEPA Regulations 2016, after a series of consultations with
stakeholders.
The
GIEPA Act 2015 was assented to by the President in December 2015.
In
her welcome remarks, GIEPA CEO Fatou Mbenga Jallow urged all participants,
particularly those from the private sector, to critically look at it and
participate in the process as the set of regulations is what would help them in
implementation to ensure objectives are achieved.
Lamin
Dampha, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, said one
of the major differences they had in the current Act is a focus on promoting
domestic investment.
He
said the Act aims to ensure the three key functions of GIEPA (enterprise
support and development; investment promotion and facilitation; business
development and export development) are given attention.
Mr
Dampha also said the Act is trying to create a balance whereby the co-functions
of GIEPA are given equal attention in administration of the Act.
The
regulations are made in response to the needs of investors, as well as pending
challenges of the investment environment.
He
also pointed out that they are competing globally for the few investors, and
they have to promote them, adding that in doing so they have to ensure their
environment remains very competitive and attractive, which means they must
continue to respond to the needs of investors to ensure their needs are
featured in policy processes in order to remain as one of the most attractive
destinations for investors around the world.
DPS
Dampha challenged participants to critically look at the Act to ensure they do
not gather in a year or two to review the document again.
They
need the right policies to ensure the flow of investment reflects in the
economy, he added.
The
CEO of Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in his remarks, said generally
regulations should safeguard businesses and the environment, as well as ensure
they have the best industrial practices.
CEO
Alieu Secka added that, in particular, the regulations allow the Ministry of
Trade and GIEPA to manage investment and export promotion, but they must never
lose sight that they are all players or stakeholders in the private sector.
He
said that MSMEs – micro, small and medium-scale enterprises - constitute 99 per
cent of businesses in The Gambia, hence having regulations is quite important.
Secka
added that an updated data-base of SMEs – small and medium enterprises - would
assist in matching data of enterprises from that of a single business
regulation, as well as assist GIEPA in matching of businesses, particularly
foreign investors.
“Imports
and exports are crucial to our economy,” he noted, and therefore the
regulations would assist all and sundry to know and adhere to the rules and
regulations of import and export procedures, including documentation.
The
regulations also create transparency through the GIEPA setting, as well as with
the institutions and enterprises, thereby enhancing relationships and helping
in the smooth running of the day-to-day activities of GIEPA.
