As the 2007 trade fair, organised by the Chamber of commerce and Industry, continues at Independence Stadium participants from the Kingdom of Spain and LG Electronics have been taking part.

Trade fair coordinators have been giving their views on the progress of the event. Mrs. Beatrice Allen, the trade fair coordinator said that the level of participation is higher than at the last event. She noted that there are 220 stalls at this year’s event compared with 183 at the last one.

She disclosed that for the past two or three trade fairs only two motor companies participated. This time around four motor companies are involved.

“We are thankful to our partners for answering our call and supporting us right through to the fair. We are also highly encouraged by the turnout from the general public” she remarked.

She indicated that there are 85 institutions participating in the three-day event from various sectors of the economy.

“We have a heavy presence of international participants including over 40 companies from Spain and Indonesia. There are also 7 enterprises from Mali and 4 from Niger”. Mrs. Allen remarked that this was a very good sign.

In conclusion she indicated that the GCCI have already established that it will be holding trade fair every two years for the time being. This will continue to be the case until such time as they have a complex to properly house the event. Once a specially designed complex has been established they will organise event on a tri-monthly basis. “It is just impossible for us to build the stalls every three months at the moment so we will continue to operate on a biannual basis until we have a trade fair ground”

For his part, Mr. Jose Antonio Costa Mocholi of Horchata De Chufus, from Spain, indicated that this his companies first time in The Gambia and indeed Africa in general.

He described the trade fair as a success for them noting that they have built very good contacts here in The Gambia that, according to him, is their initial purpose.

“We are quite happy because we are making very important contacts with people here who can distribute our products, not only in the Gambia but in the Sub-Saharan sub region”.

Mr Mocholi revealed that the company produces typical juice from raw materials that people in The Gambia will be familiar with. He expanded saying “We think that this juice will be very popular for people because they know all the flavours of the raw materials we use”.

He remained cautious however adding, “I think we will wait until we see the outcome of discussions we are having with people here to see whether The Gambia would be a good place for us to do business. Our participation in further trade fairs will depend on the outcome of some of the contacts we have made at this event”.

Mr. Fady Hochering, General Manager of the company LG, which is one of the major sponsors of the event, indicated that LG has been established in The Gambia since 1970. He added that they are one of the founding members of the GCCI and have been participating in every type of event that will help the country.

“We were here during the previous trade fairs and we are trying to improve. We deem it fitting that we, as one of the major sponsors, would this year help the GCCI to achieve its goals and financial targets. We will also benefit from good public exposure as a result of the event”.

Mr. Hochering continued saying “This years trade fair has been much bigger than previous events. We have seen a lot of companies coming from all over the world”.

According to the LG boss, at LG you are assured of the best quality, and widest variety of, products available on the market. He also emphasised the company’s dedication to customer service.

In conclusion he revealed, “we have a new hot product that arrived just two weeks ago. It is a mobile phone that as well as all the basic functions of a regular mobile has an FM radio and a loudspeaker”. Another innovation in the product is something called Lost Mobile Track (LMT). With this a person can identify who has their phone if they happen to lose it.