United We Stand, Divided We Fall

It is vital that we involve the private sector to as large an extent as possible if we are to ride out the worst of the economic turbulence that is currently engulfing the globe.

In her opening remarks, Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay, the speaker of the National Assembly, said we are seeing the tsunami of the credit crunch in the United States, Europe and some part of Asia hitting the world. This is a very apt description. The crisis began in America and washed over the world leaving destruction in its path ever since. As was pointed out at the meeting, we are a small economy and cannot avoid the crunch altogether. If we are well prepared however and devise appropriate strategies then we can definitely endure the crisis and emerge at the other end with an economy ready to take full advantage of newly available money on the international markets.

For his part, Bai Matarr Drammeh, the president of The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hailed the initiative of organising such a meeting, adding that they (the private sector) are glad that they are included in the proceedings of the National Assembly. He noted that inviting them to such a meeting is an indication that the National Assembly has taken the private sector very seriously.

This partnership may well prove to be a very fruitful one for both sets of stakeholders and also for the people of The Gambia. For this reason we urge all involved to do their very best to ensure that the greatest benefit for all concerned results from the initiative.