At the invitation of Miguel Angel Moratinos, minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, Crispin Grey-Johnson, secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, led a week-long mission to Madrid from January 8 to 15, geared towards deepening bilateral cooperation between the countries.

Secretary of State Grey-Johnson was accompanied by a high-powered delegation comprising the secretaries of state for Agriculture, Higher Education, Interior, Youth and Sports, Tourism, Trade,  the chairman of the National Planning Commission, CEO of GIPFZA, permanent secretaries and other senior government officials.

According to a press release from the Department of State for Foreign Affairs, the objective of the visit was three-pronged.

“It entailed finding ways of further deepening cooperation relations, following-up on pledges made by the Spanish government with regards to financial and technical assistance in the construction of a new and the upgrading of existing skills centers, creating employment for youths with the view to curbing illegal migration while encouraging legal migration of skilled and unskilled Gambian workers; and finally, establishing initial contacts and securing additional support and promoting The Gambia as a business hub into the sub-region.”

In this context, the delegation met with Spanish investors and invited them to invest in the growth and employment sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, construction, and tourism.

“Meeting at Regional and Federal levels were fruitful as outstanding issues on bilateral relations and disbursements of funds allocated for the governance project and Gamjobs have been clarified,” the press release confirmed.

The delegation announced that the said funds have been disbursed since July and September 2007 respectively.

“In the field of training, the Spanish side confirmed that work on the first three training centers is on course, and preliminary activities have begun on the other five training centers currently under joint execution by the Spanish Agriculture Agency, TRAGSA  and the National Training Authority (NTA).”

In the area of sports, the Spanish authorities with their Gambian counterparts are exploring possibilities of establishing a sports training center for football and basketball.

“On women’s issues, €500,000 have been set aside to strengthen public policy on women.  The Spanish side has promised to disburse those funds directly to the National Women’s Council.”

With regards to trade and investment promotion, the press release continued, draft agreements on Trade and on Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments between the two countries were submitted to the Spanish side.

“Plans are underway to utilise other avenues available to attract foreign direct investments flows into The Gambia in collaboration with the two chambers of commerce and private sector operators. In this drive, exchange visits will be undertaken by officials at all levels and on both sides to put The Gambia in the map for Spanish investors. The outcome of which will be a joint commission to be held in Banjul in the very near future.”

“In another development, officials from the Spanish hotel chain, the Melia Group will be travelling to Banjul shortly, to work on proposals for cooperation in the tourism sector. Additionally, representatives from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce will be meeting their counterparts soon in Banjul to discuss modalities for the organization of a Road Show cum Investment Forum on The Gambia to be held in Madrid also in the near future.”

It would be recalled that cooperation between the Kingdom of Spain and The Gambia started in earnest in October 2006 with the signing of a framework agreement to curb illegal immigration by HE Miguel Angel Moratinos in Banjul.

Several visits have taken place since, culminating in the visit of a Gambian delegation to Madrid last March, headed by the vice president of the Republic of The Gambia. Ongoing collaboration is bearing fruits as evidenced by the participation of a delegation of Spanish entrepreneurs in the just ended trade fair held in Banjul last December. Both sides expect to see such cooperation replicated frequently.