The Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission has launched the Gambia National Coordinating Committee last Thursday 30th April at the Jerma Beach Hotel.

The committee was formed at a three day Inter-Institutional Trade Policy decision making committee designed workshop.

Speaking on the occasion, the project coordinator of ECOWAS Trade Negotiation Capacity Building Project, Douglas Zormelo said the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja is helping member countries to set up inter instructional committees on trade with the objective of mainstreaming trade into development policy as well as help with trade policy decision making.

He said the committee will also assist the development of trade policy and trade negotiation and multilateral, regional and EPA-EU levels.

According to the project coordinator, ECOWASCapacityBuilding Project, such committees has already been formed in five ECOWAS member countries.

“Such committees has already been formed in five ECOWAS member countries namely Sierra Leone, Togo, Guinea Conakry, Liberia and Nigeria”, he said.

In his launching speech, the honorable Minister of Trade Industry and Employment, Abdou Colley said that the Gambia benefited a lot in the past training on various decision making structures.

“The Gambia benefited from the first phase of the project that provided capacity building on trade negotiation. There is ample evidence to show that the training received in 2006 has immensely benefited this country in our various decision making structures”, he said. He revealed that following this capacity building, here in The Gambia, the country had gone ahead by taking the initiative in 2007 to create a permanent Inter-institutional Committee for mainstreaming trade and trade-related issues into national development strategies.

He commended all stakeholders for their efforts in all the achievements registered.