The
architects of the international Tourism Investment Forum slated to be held in
The Gambia from tomorrow 16 to 18 October 2014 have knocked a right key to
opening the door to investments in the country.
Tourism is one veritable source of investment opportunities in any country and its tentacles are spread to many other sectors of economic gain for a nation, such as energy, agriculture, ICT, fisheries and other productive and real sectors of indispensable services.
The forum, to kick-start tomorrow, will look at what there are in tourism, but as the director for investment promotion and facilitation at the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) said, the objective of the forum is generally to create awareness of investment opportunities in the country.
As international participants from various countries join our local investors and entrepreneurs in The Gambia, it is vital to place our cards on the table for them to see the opportunities awaiting them in the Smiling Coast of Africa.
As a first port of call, the tourism sector in The Gambia possesses great opportunities that can be exploited by both international and local investors.
There are also the sectors such as agriculture, energy, light manufacturing, fisheries, ICT and other services. These and many more, such as Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises are weaved with superb business-friendly incentives by GIEPA that ought not to be missed by any potential investors.
Some of the red carpets of GIEPA are tax holiday, tariff and sales tax incentives,export promotion incentives, zone investor incentives, and SME support.
So there are several windows of opportunities for investors to tap from in The Gambia, hence we encourage stakeholders in the tourism sector such as the Gambia Tourism Board and GIEPA to keep pushing and to place the candle on the lamp stand so that all those who come to The Gambia, and even those watching from outside, would see the light and all the goods of the Smiling Coast of Africa.
“Great investors need to have the right combination of intuition, business sense and investment talent.”
Andrew Lo
