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Trade Policy Review Body    
 
* In Original language only/ En langue originale seulement /En el idioma original solamente . 
  
THE GAMBIA 
DRAFT MINUTES  OF THE MEETING* HELD ON 23 AND 25 JANUARY 20 18 
Delegations are invited to submit factual corrections, if any, on their own statement to the 
Secretariat ( Mrs Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org , or to  tprd@wto.org ) no later 
than 2 March 2018 . 
 
Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales  
 
GAMBIE 
PROJET DE COMPTE REN DU DE LA RÉUNION* TENUE LES 23 ET 25 JANVIER 201 8 
Les délégations sont invitées à soumettre  leurs éventuelles corrections factuelles concernant leurs 
propres déclarations au Secrétariat ( Mme Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org , ou 
tprd@wto.org ) le 2 mars 2018  au plus tard.  
 
Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales  
 
GAMBIA 
PROYECTO DE ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN* CELEBRADA LOS DÍAS 23 Y 25 DE ENERO DE 2018  
Las delegaciones pueden enviar a la Secretaría (Sr a. Barbara Blanquart: 
barbara.blanquart@wto.org , o tprd@wto.org ) a más tardar el 2 de marzo de 2018  las 
correcciones fácticas que deseen introducir en sus propias declaracion es. 
 
 
_______________  
 
  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  TRADE POLICY REVIEW  
 
THE GAMBIA 
DRAFT  MINUTES OF THE MEETI NG 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr Juan Carlos González (Colombia)  
CONTENTS  
 
1   INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  ................................ ......................  3 
2   OPENING STATEMENT BY  THE REPRESENTATIVE O F THE GAMBIA  ..............................  5 
3   STATEMENT BY THE DIS CUSSANT  ................................ ................................ ...............  8 
4   STATEMENTS BY MEMBER S ................................ ................................ ........................  13 
5   REPLIES BY THE REPRE SENTATIVE OF THE GAM BIA AND ADDITIONAL 
COMMENTS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  28 
6   CONCLUDING REMARKS B Y THE CHAIRPERSON  ................................ ........................  33 
 
 
Note: Advance written questions and additional questions by WTO Members, and the replies 
provided by The Gambia are reproduced in document WT/TPR/M/365/Add.1 and will be available 
online at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp_rep_e.htm.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
1.1.  The third Trade Policy Review of The Gambia was held on 23 and 25 January 2018. The 
Chairperson, H.E. Mr. Ju an Carlos González (Colombia) welcomed the delegation of The Gambia 
headed by H.E. Dr. Isatou Touray, Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and 
Employment; the rest of the delegation; and the discussant, H.E. Mr. Daniel Blockert (Sweden).  
1.2.  The C hairperson recalled the purpose of the Trade Policy Reviews and the main elements of 
the procedures for the meeting. The report by The Gambia was contained in document 
WT/TPR/G/365 and that of the WTO Secretariat in WT/TPR/S/365.  
1.3.  Questions by the following  delegations had been submitted in writing before the deadline: 
Brazil; United States; European Union; Canada; and Japan. The following delegations submitted 
written questions after the deadline: China; and Thailand.  
1.4.  At the last TPR in 2010, Members had ob served that The Gambia had weathered the global 
financial crisis relatively well. However, economic performance had been hampered by a small and 
undiversified production and export base consisting mainly of groundnuts and fish, and export 
performance had a lso been adversely affected by SPS and quality assurance issues.  
1.5.  The Gambian economy continued to face challenges. According to the Secretariat's report, 
some of the main problems were high fiscal deficits, the growing public debt, and financially 
distres sed state -owned enterprises. High government borrowing combined with tight monetary 
policy had resulted in high interest rates crowding out private sector development. The Gambia 
had also been hit by external shocks, notably the 2014 Ebola outbreak in neig hbouring countries 
which had affected its tourism sector. Overall, real GDP growth had averaged 2.9% in the period 
2010-16. However, according to the IMF, there had been some encouraging developments last 
year (2017) with a rebound in tourism and trade and  renewed interest by foreign investors. The 
Secretariat's report also underlined the importance that international aid and remittances played in 
sustaining the Gambian economy.  
1.6.  The Secretariat's report indicated that The Gambia had by and large an open tr ade and 
investment regime, noting that the country needed to import most of its food and other needs. In 
their advance written questions Members expressed an interest in learning more about measures 
to attract FDI, and remaining restrictions on FDI.  
1.7.  The WT O and the Economic Community of West African States' (ECOWAS) trade regime 
provided the basic parameters for The Gambia's trade policies. For example, customs procedures 
with respect to rules of origin and transit were governed by ECOWAS rules.  
1.8.  The Secretariat's report highlighted as the main trade policy development the adoption of the 
five-band ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) from 1 January 2017. It noted that for The 
Gambia, the change from the national customs tariff (2010) to the ECOWAS CET had been a major 
tariff reform, entailing adjustments of thousands of tariff lines. The average CET (MFN) rate was 
12.3%, down from the previous average of 14.1%. None of the ECOWAS CET rates exceeded The 
Gambia's tariff bindings. The Gambia applied th e CET to all of its trading partners, including other 
ECOWAS members, at present, except for goods covered by the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization 
Scheme (ETLS), which entered duty free.  
1.9.  Other trade policy reforms since the last TPR included a new food safety regime, a 
modernized TBT regime, updated legislation on intellectual property rights and government 
procurement, and the introduction of a VAT regime. The Secretariat's report noted that the excise 
tax regime appeared to have some features of differential application between imported and 
domestically -produced goods, something that had already been observed during the last TPR in 
2010. This might be a matter of systemic interest that WTO Members might wish to revert to.  
1.10.   The Gambia had deposited its instrume nt of acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
(TFA) in July 2017. Several delegations had submitted questions regarding further clarification as 
to when The Gambia intended to submit its TFA related notifications.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  1.11.   Other areas where Members had ques tions for this TPR included customs procedures, 
import restrictions, plans for privatization of state -owned enterprises, and The Gambia's transport 
and energy policies.  
1.12.   This meeting would thus be a good opportunity for Members to discuss in greater detail 
issues of interest to them and of systemic importance to the multilateral trading system. The 
Chairperson looked forward to a fruitful exchange.  
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  2  OPENING STATEMENT BY  THE REPRESENTATIVE O F THE GAMBIA (H.E. D R. ISATOU 
TOURAY)  
2.1.  My delegation is happy to be h ere for the third Trade Policy Review of The Gambia. I want to 
take this opportunity to thank you Mr Chairman and the WTO Secretariat for the efforts that went 
into the organisation of this meeting. We appreciate the Secretariat's diligence in preparing it s 
comprehensive report which formed part of the basis of our discussions in this review meeting. 
The review gives us an opportunity to look at some of the reforms and trade policy developments 
that have been taken by The Gambia since the last Trade policy Review in 2010. I would also like 
to thank H.E. Ambassador Daniel Blockert of Sweden for kindly agreeing to assume the role of the 
Discussant and I look forward to hearing his observations and insights.  
2.2.  A lot has occurred in The Gambia since our last trade  policy review and the most recent is the 
change of Government which led to the establishment of the new Government of President Adama 
Barrow in January 2017. The new Government has had challenges at the beginning as it inherited 
a fragile economy that is weak with high poverty levels and high youth unemployment. The 
Government inherited a debt burden of over D56.5 billion (120% of GDP) putting pressure to 
finance its development agenda. However, through commitment and strong partnership with 
development pa rtners and private sector engagement, the Government has registered progress in 
stabilizing the economy. The Government is already implementing a series of economic and 
institutional reforms to foster greater efficiency in the public sector, ensure macroec onomic 
stability and strengthen the business climate.  
2.3.  The Government's fiscal consolidation and reforms are already yielding good results. The 
Government's net borrowing requirement has declined sharply from 12% of GDP in 2016 to a 
projected 1% of GDP in 2 017 slowing down the rate of growth in the accumulation of domestic 
debt. In the wake of this, the cost of Government borrowings has also declined markedly with 
91-day, 182 -day and 364 -day Treasury bill yields declining from 17.56%, 20.87% and 16.97% in 
September 2016 to 5.04%, 7.1% and 8.11% in September 2017, respectively.  
2.4.  The Gambian economy is therefore expected to grow by 3.0% in 2017 compared to an actual 
outturn of 2.2% in 2016. The agricultural sector, a major force of economic growth is expected to  
rebound to 2.6% in 2017 compared to 0.5% in the preceding year. Service sector growth is 
anticipated to experience a small set back with growth projected to fall to 4.1% in 2017 compared 
to 5.1% in 2016. The substantially low performance of the service se ctor is due to the negative 
impact of the December political impasse that affected the tourism sector, leading to low 
occupancy over the period January -March 2017. I am glad to inform this Body that the tourism 
sector is rebounding quickly with increasing number of visitors since November 2017 and we 
expect to have a good season this year.  
2.5.  Since the last review, the Gambia has adopted a number of measures to improve the trade 
and investment policy environment to support trade development. The food safety re gime has 
been modernized through a new Food Safety and Quality Act of 2011 which led to the 
establishment of the Food Safety and Quality Authority in 2013. We have established structures to 
strengthen the development and enforcement of food safety legislat ion and to ensure compliance 
with international commitments. The Gambia Standards Bureau has also been operational since 
2011 and has made progress in the development of standards and providing technical support to 
other trade -related institutions in the d evelopment of technical regulations to support trade. A new 
Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 2014 and is currently being implemented by the Gambia 
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. We have also modernized our public 
procurement legislat ion through the establishment of the Public Procurement Authority Act in 2014 
to make it in line with international best practice. Under the Act, the procurement Cadre, the 
Independence Complaints Review Board and the Major Tender Board are all fully opera tional since 
2015. The intellectual property right legislations have also been strengthened by amending the 
Industrial Property Act in 2015 to align it with international standards. The new Act increased the 
protection period for patents from 15 years to 2 0 years and it also introduced provisions to ensure 
conformity with the Madrid Protocol relating to international registration of Marks.  
2.6.  To ensure that all trade related legislations are consistent with our WTO agreements and 
obligations, we have establis hed a National Technical Regulation Committee in 2011, chaired by 
the Ministry of Justice to serve as a clearing house for all newly trade related legislations. The WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  Committee reviews all draft trade related laws and regulations to ensure that they are cons istent 
with WTO Agreements before their notification to the WTO and subsequent enactment.  
2.7.  On the invest policy environment, The Gambia has also revised the Companies Act in 2013, 
established the Single Window Registration Act in 2013, and revised the Gamb ia Investment and 
Export Promotion Act in 2015. The Single Window Business Act helped in establishing a one -stop 
business registry in 2014 which now provides an electronic registration system for businesses. The 
new investment and export promotion act expa nded the scope of investments and incentives to 
cover small and medium size enterprises. The Government has also formulated the Micro Small 
and Medium Size Enterprises Policy in 2014 and the Gambia National Entrepreneurship Policy was 
developed in 2016. As  most of you may be aware, the Gambia Investment Policies were reviewed 
in November 2017 under the UNCTAD Investment Policy Reviews. As part of the review process, 
we have developed an Action Plan as a framework to addressing some of the challenges to 
improve the Gambia investment environment.  
2.8.  The Gambia will therefore continue to be committed to the multilateral trading system and 
will continue to work hard at improving compliance with the various obligations under the WTO. 
Following the ratification of t he Trade Facilitation Agreement in March 2017, I am glad to inform 
you that we will be submitting the Gambia's Categories A, B and C notifications under the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement today as required by the Agreement. The Government has also finalized 
arrangements to open a Mission in Geneva to bring us much closer to the WTO and to ensure our 
effective participation on WTO related discussions here in Geneva.  
2.9.  The Gambia, as an LDC, continues to face trade capacity development challenges as 
highlighted in both the Government and Secretariat reports. We will continue to strengthen our 
collaboration with development partners and called on them to support the New Gambia in our 
efforts to develop trade and productive capacities for the attainment of the SDGs . As a 
Government, it is very clear to us that building trade capacities, improving competitiveness and 
promoting private sector development is the way forward for the Gambia to revive the economy to 
promote trade, inclusiveness and sustainable development . The Government is therefore 
undertaking reforms to improve the business environment and competitiveness to support private 
sector development. The Government has commenced the implementation of a number of 
measures in 2018 which led to the reduction of p ersonal income tax, the corporate income tax 
(reduced from 30% to 27%), residential income tax (reduced from 10% to 8%) and the tariff on 
commercial rent also reduced from 15% to 10%.  
2.10.   The Government is currently working with the World Bank to implement th e energy sector 
roadmap, which aims to improve efficiency in supply of electricity. We are also working closely 
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a programme to put the country's macroeconomic 
fundamentals on a sound footing.  
2.11.   In this regard, t he new Government has now complemented the drafting of its National 
Development Plan (2018 to 2021), where trade and trade -related issues have gained more 
prominence to support the government employment creation and economic development drive for 
poverty r eduction.  
2.12.   The new National Development Plan is anchored on eight strategic priorities, and seven 
critical enablers, key amongst these priorities are: restoring good governance; respect for human 
right, the rule of law, and empowering citizens through decen tralization and local governance; 
stabilizing our economy, stimulating growth and transforming the economy; modernizing our 
agriculture and fisheries for sustained economic growth, investing in our people through improved 
education and health services; bui lding our infrastructure and restoring energy services; 
promoting an inclusive and culture -centred tourism for sustainable growth; reaping the 
demographic dividend through an empowered youth; and making the private sector the engine of 
growth, transformati on, and job creation  
2.13.   However, in order to achieve these priorities, The Gambia will require critical enablers to 
build on the implementation of the National Development Plan. Amongst these are: a public sector 
that is efficient and responsive to the citiz enry; empowering the Gambian woman to realize her full 
potential; enhancing the role of the Diaspora in Gambian Development; promoting environmental 
sustainability, climate resilient communities and appropriate land use; making The Gambia a WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  digital nation and creating a modern information society; and strengthening evidence -based policy, 
planning and decision -making.  
2.14.   In line with this, and cognizant of the potential positive impact that trade could have in a 
small open economy like ours, The Gambia Governm ent continues to jealously guard its 
commitment to its liberal trade regime. The Government is also working with UNCTAD, through 
the EIF support, to formulate an Industrial Policy and Trade Strategy to support trade 
development, particularly in promoting t he implementation of trade development issues as have 
been encapsulated in the New National Development Plan.  
2.15.   We have had a strong and beneficial relationship with the EIF Secretariat which has been 
very supportive during the period under review. In addit ion to Tier 1 project which focused on 
supporting trade institutional capacity developments, The Gambia has also successfully 
implemented two Tier 2 projects Under the EIF, including a Trade Facilitation Project. The Trade 
Facilitation project is supportin g the improvement of Air -cargo facilities to enable exports of fish 
and horticulture produces and to attract more airlines serving The Gambia. All works under the 
project have now been completed and operations at the export wing of the facility has 
commenc ed. We are officially opening this ultra -modern cargo facility on 27 February 2018. We 
look forward to more closer engagement with the EIF Secretariat and development partners 
through the aid for trade initiative to support The Gambia trade development nee ds.  
2.16.   The Gambia also attaches great importance to regional economic cooperation and 
integration through our effective participation in the Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS). The Government continues to be committed to the implementation of  ECOWAS 
programmes to strengthen regional integration. We started the implementation of the ECOWAS 
Inter-State Road Transit Scheme 2013 and both ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme and the 
programme to facilitate the Free movement of people are effectively implemented in The Gambia. 
The Gambia has also officially started the implementation of the Common External Tariff (CET) in 
January 2017 as part of ECOWAS customs union initiatives.  
2.17.   In conclusion, please allow me to once again thank the WTO Secretariat, a nd all other 
partners for all their valuable assistance over the years and particularly to the New Government. 
The Government of the Gambia will continue to work closely with the WTO Secretariat and all 
Member States to make the multilateral trading system  more responsive to our needs and help 
make international trade the engine of growth in all our countries.  
2.18.   Thank you for your attention.  
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  3  STATEMENT BY THE DIS CUSSANT  
Introduction  
3.1.  As a discussant it is always useful if one can find strong links between your own country and 
the country that is being reviewed. However, in this case I can't really point to anything very 
impressive. Sweden was an early supporter of the Gambian independence in 1965. We were a big 
donor for many years. Today our trade relation ship is very small. We import mainly cashews from 
The Gambia, and we export machinery, vehicles and furniture. And, of course, we have some 
tourists from Sweden every year going to The Gambia.  
3.2.  This is not insignificant of course, but not that inspiring eit her. Therefore, I will move on to 
something that is more impressive.  
3.3.  I do want to congratulate the representatives from The Gambia who are here today, because 
The Gambia has done something that is very difficult to do, namely transitioning from an 
autocrat ic regime to a democratic one without triggering a massive internal conflict, which is 
something that is not easy to do. It was a difficult process after the election in 2016 when Adama 
Barrow was elected. There were some months where the whole process bal anced on a knife's edge 
before the situation was stabilized. We now have a new Government, a democratically elected 
Government and it should spare a new beginning for The Gambia. If this is not a reason for 
optimism I do not know what is.  
3.4.  One consequence o f this for us today is that we have a situation where a country's 
Government will be held accountable for something a previous Government has done. This is not 
unusual of course. In democratic countries you have shifts in Government on a pretty regular bas is 
and politicians are accustomed to work with what previous Governments have left them, good or 
bad. But today we have something of a special case. Taking over after 22 years of autocratic rule 
and inheriting an economy that is facing huge challenges, it is not your average change of 
Government.  
3.5.  I think that is something that is useful to keep in the back of our minds today when we talk 
about The Gambian economy. If this TPR can in any way be helpful and offer some guidance and 
inspiration for The Gambia i n its future reforms, I think it has been worthwhile.  
3.6.  I have structured my comments today so that I will start with a very short introduction and 
overview, a lot of which you will recognize from the previous reports we have heard. After that, I 
will highl ight a few areas of important reforms that The Gambia is currently engaged in, and 
finally, I will raise a few subjects that I found to be of particular interest, and also try to identify a 
few questions which I think could be pertinent and perhaps can be returned to on Thursday when 
we conclude this TPR.  
Overview  
3.7.  If we start with the overview, I am not going to go into the basic facts in detail. You have 
those in the reports and your heard it from the Chair and from the Minister from The Gambia. But 
let me  just reiterate that there is no lack of challenges for the new Government. They have 
inherited an economy with large fiscal and external imbalances, massive public debt stock costly 
domestic debt -service obligations, which are made worse by liabilities co nnected to loss -making 
State Owned Enterprises. The population grows faster than agricultural production and The 
Gambia has had a substantial emigration for a large number of years.  
3.8.  Another fact that I want to highlight in this context is that The Gambia has been a recipient 
of relatively low levels of development aid. If you compare with other countries on a similar level 
of development, it is obvious that The Gambia has not been the focus of donors. In fact, after the 
World Bank visited The Gambia in 201 7, one of their representatives called The Gambia a 
"forgotten State" in terms of aid, and encouraged donors to get engaged.  
3.9.  There are several reasons for this situation. One of them is the previous political regime in 
The Gambia, but hopefully this can c hange. I know that the new Government in the Gambia has 
already started ambitious cooperation with the World Bank, the IMF, development banks and has WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  also reached out to individual donor countries. Aid will not be a panacea that can solve all the 
challenge s but it can be a powerful help during this important period of transition.  
3.10.   There are also a few positive signs that I think are very important to highlight. The Gambia 
was hit by the financial crisis just like everyone else, but they still managed to get through better 
than many others. I read the report from the IMF recently where they project increase in growth 
rates, the IMF projects a 4% growth by 2019, which is a respectable figure.  
3.11.   The trade and investment regime is fairly open and it is encouraging to see that The Gambia 
seems intent on using the WTO as a mean to boost their trade and assist in some of the domestic 
reforms that are necessary.  
Current reforms  
3.12.   When reading the reports from the WTO Secretariat, The Gambia and also a few other 
reports I  found from the World Bank, IMF and the African Development Bank, one of the main 
conclusions is that the future economic prospects of The Gambia will depend on the country's 
capacity to reform the economy.  
3.13.   Long term growth will be dependent on internal s tructural reforms to improve performance 
in the public sector and the state owned enterprises. Closely connected to this is the need to 
strengthen the private sector, especially when it comes to reforms of business environment, taxes, 
access to funding, ed ucation and training.  
3.14.   We also find many references to reforms that are closely related to the trade regimes. The 
main issue here is clearly the relationship between The Gambia and ECOWAS.  
3.15.   From the reports that we have before us today it is clear that The Gambia is very much 
aware of the fact that reforms are necessary and a lot of reforms are already ongoing or in the 
pipeline. I would especially like to highlight a few of them that I find to be interesting. This is in no 
way an exhaustive list:  
 Tourism is  still a main source of income for The Gambia but the sector is volatile. Strategies 
have been launched through the Culture and Hospitality Plan which will now need to be 
implemented to create a more stable sector. Plans connected to tourism also include P R 
strategies, targeting conference tourism and increased involvement from the private sector.  
 Infrastructure continues to be a challenge and even if heavy investments have been made 
much more is needed. One of the key objectives is to improve the competive ness of the Port 
of Banjul and make it into a transit hub in the region. This entails moving away from the 
current Public Service Model and creating room for the private sector to get involved.  
 There are several reforms connected to agriculture. The curren t policy on development of 
the agricultural sector, The Agricultural and Natural Resource Policy is under review.  
 There are several initiatives related to promote private investment in agriculture across the 
whole value chain. Projects are also underway t o address agricultural infrastructure, such as 
the Land and Water Management Project.  
 The fisheries sector is a priority not least because of its potential for food security. 
Monitoring and better regulation is badly needed and The Gambia has a technical 
cooperation programme with the FAO.  
 There are also substantial reforms in areas related directly to trade. Since 2017, The Gambia 
has started implementing the Common External Tariff (CET) of ECOWAS. This is a huge 
undertaking and I will come back to this is sue later.  
 As the current Chair of the Trade Facilitation Committee, I'm pleased to see that not only 
have The Gambia ratified the TFA, but there are also several projects related to 
implementation in progress. A single window is in place, a Trade Facilita tion Committee has 
been created and there is an ongoing project with the EIF connected to the Port of Banjul. WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  We hope to see this work continued but, of course, I also feel obliged to remind The Gambia 
that we still lack some notifications concerning TFA, and we hope they are in the pipeline.  
 I note with satisfaction that The Gambia eliminated fuel subsidies in 2014. This is good news 
since fuel subsidies are rarely efficient or motivated.  
 The Gambia was one of the signatories of the Ministerial Declaration on Women and Trade 
that was adopted in Buenos Aires. Therefore I was especially encouraged to see that The 
Gambia has devoted a separate headline in their report on gender mainstreaming. I hope 
you can be an inspiration for others to do the same. Women are important economic actors 
in all the major sectors in The Gambia and it is positive to see that the National Gender 
Policy and the Private Sector Development Strategy both include activi ties directed 
specifically to empowering women in trade. I also know that gender mainstreaming has 
been a key component in several projects that The Gambia has in partnership with the EIF 
and ITC, for example a Tier 2 that supported the cashew industry.  
3.16.   I have only highlighted some of the ongoing reforms and projects. In some cases The 
Gambia has encountered obstacles in implementing these reforms but that is to be expected and it 
does not seem to have affected the country's commitment to continue this wor k.  
Questions and challenges  
3.17.   Next, I will move on to mentioning a few areas where I feel it might be interesting to have a 
further discussion here today and perhaps come back to on Thursday as well. I called my headline 
"Questions and challenges" and there  are three blocks that I would like to mention. My objective 
under  this headline is not to criticize or complain. My intention is rather to highlight a few areas 
where I believe that there are challenges. They are of a systemic nature and could interest ot hers 
as well. I believe that many other developing countries, LDCs in particular, are facing similar 
challenges.  
Regional Trade and ECOWAS (1)  
3.18.   My first comment concerns regional trade and ECOWAS. A few years ago, I was a discussant 
for a fellow ECOWAS me mber: Cabo Verde. One of the issues that struck me during that Trade 
Policy Review was that Cabo Verde had very limited trade with the rest of the ECOWAS members. 
At a first glance, it seems like the situation for The Gambia is different, but if you look c loser you 
realize that The Gambia's trade with ECOWAS is dominated by your trade with Senegal. If you 
would remove Senegal from the statistics, the trade with the rest of the ECOWAS members is 
fairly small and you have bigger trading partners such as China  and the European Union.  
3.19.   The Gambia has now implemented the ECOWAS common external tariff (CET). It's a five 
tier system that will apply to all trade partners except for goods that falls under the ECOWAS trade 
liberalization scheme. I remember that for Cab o Verde, implementation of the CET would lead to a 
large hike in tariffs. For The Gambia it's the opposite. The average applied MFN tariff rate is now 
12.3% compared to 14.1% before the reform. The Gambia had a large number of unbound tariffs 
before but no w, in practice at least, they have been bound by the CET. It has also lead to a 
situation where there is a huge amount of water in the tariffs, especially in the agriculture sector.  
3.20.   In this context, I would like to highlight two issues. The first one relat es to The Gambia's 
long term vision of its relationship with the ECOWAS community. It is not uncommon in Africa that 
local trade is relatively limited. According to many studies and recommendations from 
Organizations such as the World Bank, there is a grea t untapped potential here. There are several 
programmes under ECOWAS designed to increase trade between its members. Several of them are 
mentioned in The Gambia's report. Therefore, it is of interest to hear more about The Gambia's 
strategic thinking in th is area. What are you doing to increase regional integration and how can 
that help boost the Gambian economy.  
3.21.   The second question is more straightforward. Implementing a common regional tariff will 
certainly bring advantages, especially in a longer perspec tive. But it is a massive undertaking and 
especially it should be felt both positive and negative consequences in the short term in specific 
sectors. So how does The Gambia look at the adaptation of the ECOWAS CET and what kind of WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  positive and negative eff ects can you see? Will there be need to supporting measures in some 
sectors?  
State Owned Enterprises and FDI (2)  
3.22.   Another feature that The Gambia shares with Cabo Verde is the importance of state owned 
enterprises. According to the report from the WTO Secr etariat and also in the World Bank report, 
virtually all state -owned companies in The Gambia are in financial distress. High government 
borrowing combined with tight monetary policy has resulted in high interest rates, making life very 
difficult for the pr ivate sector. In combination with weak infrastructure, energy shortages and a 
complex tax system, this creates several major challenges like public debt, a weak private sector 
and difficulties in attracting foreign investment.  
3.23.   I am acutely aware of the fac t that this situation was created by the previous administration 
in The Gambia and that the current Government has the very difficult task trying to clean this up. 
Some measures are already mentioned in The Gambia's report, but I would be interesting to kn ow 
more about how The Gambia looks at the possibilities to implement measures to further reduce 
the role of Government, and to reduce the cost of state -owned enterprises in order to decrease 
public debt and secure continued good economic growth. In the rep ort from The Gambia, you 
mention that "…measures will be put in place to end the recurring trend of bailing out state -owned 
enterprises…". What measures are we talking about here, what measures could be feasible? What 
actions are facing major difficulties and why?  
3.24.   Related to the issue of State -Owned Enterprises and the challenges in the business climate 
is the issue of FDI. Reports from the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank 
highlight the importance for The Gambia to attract investments. W e heard from the Minister that 
The Gambia has a cooperation with UNCTAD on investments. It would be interesting to hear more 
about the strategies you have to attract foreign capital. And not least the tourism sector seems to 
be in need of these kinds of in vestments.  
Capacity Constraints (3)  
3.25.   The final area I would like to mention concerns capacity constraints. When reading the 
reports for this TPR, capacity constraints was a recurring theme. This is not unexpected from a 
small LDC.  
3.26.   We all know that Aid for Trade (AfT) cannot solve all issues related to capacity constraints. 
But it can certainly be an important tool. The Gambia has had several projects in cooperation with 
the EIF and ITC. I also know that there have been a few projects with other actors as we ll. But 
there is not a lot of information about that in the reports.  
3.27.   Maybe this is because The Gambia has been this "forgotten State" that the World Bank 
talked about when it comes to foreign aid. But it is always valuable to hear more about the 
experience s of developing countries, especially LDCs when it comes to AfT. And this is, of course, 
an interest also for me representing a large donor country in this area. Do you have success 
stories, projects that have been helpful for you? Projects that have not m et with expectations? Is it 
possible to define why projects have been successful or not? Are there specific areas or sectors 
where AfT is badly needed today as a priority for you?  
3.28.   This type of information is always valuable to hear from both donors and in ternational 
organizations.  
Conclusion  
3.29.   In conclusion, I would like to thank the delegation from The Gambia. I think that this TPR 
clearly shows that the country is working hard to get on the right track. There is a vision and a 
commitment to continue with the necessary reforms in order to use trade as the very powerful 
means of development it can be.  
3.30.   There are certainly challenges, especially for a small LDC like The Gambia with the recent 
history that you have. But I believe that The Gambia is prepared to deal with these challenges and WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  I do hope that this Trade Policy Review will highlight the progress that has been done and also 
identify areas where more work is needed. Thank you.  
  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  4  STATEMENTS BY MEMBER S 
BRAZIL  
4.1.  Brazil welcomes the trade policy advances that The Gambia has made since the last review 
and looks forward to a constructive exchange regarding its domestic trade policies and practices, 
reflecting the strong Gambian commitment to the WTO. Some important developments were 
mentioned here: enhanced consumer protection, new technical standards policies, investment and 
procurement reforms. The implementation of the new ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET), 
starting January 2017, shall also be noted. And Brazil welcomes the announcement made today on 
the notifications of commitments under categories A, B and C of the TFA.  
4.2.  In light of the current reform spirit, The Gambia may wish to reflect upon its very modest 
bindings in the WTO – less than 15% of tariff lines are actually bound, most of which are 
agricultural goods. Binding coverage of non -agricultural tariff lines is minimal, and the 
considerable gap between the country's average bound rate, at more than 100%, and the 
substantially lower average applied MFN rate of 12.3%, is also worrisome. The combina tion of a 
limited binding coverage and high average bound rates leaves ample margins for tariff changes 
and renders the tariff regime less predictable, although, in practice, the ECOWAS Common 
External Tariff is nowadays the bound customs tariff.  
4.3.  As descri bed in the background report prepared by the WTO Secretariat, The Gambia, as a 
Least Developed Country (LDC), still faces significant economic challenges. But as we heard from 
Dr. Touray, the macroeconomic environment is improving, agriculture and tourism are rebounding, 
and the new development plan will certainly contribute to wider economic diversification, especially 
in the manufacturing sector. The Gambia is to be commended by a number of positive economic 
results, such as achievements in the services s ector and the steady growth of the fisheries sector 
during the period under review – the later a significant development for the economic 
empowerment of women, an issue whose importance to many in this room cannot be disregarded.  
4.4.  Let me finish with a word for bilateral trade flows, just to note that 100% of Brazil's imports 
from The Gambia are manufactured products. Likewise, in 2017, Brazil's exports to The Gambia 
were predominantly industrial goods, at 74% in 2017.  
4.5.  I conclude by wishing the Gambian deleg ation a most successful Trade Policy Review.  
UNITED  STATES  
4.6.  I would like to begin by highlighting the fact that, effective January 1 of this year, The 
Gambia's eligibility for preferential tariff treatment under the African Growth and Opportunity Act 
was re stored. My Government took this step in recognition of the fact that, following democratic 
elections in December 2016, The Gambia has made progress in strengthening the rule of law, 
improving human rights, and supporting political pluralism. We hope that T he Gambia will take full 
advantage of the opportunities under AGOA, as the volume of our bilateral trade to date has been 
low. 
4.7.  The Gambia is clearly facing many challenges typical of a least developed country, including 
limited capacity and resources. Yet,  there is much to commend The Gambia with respect to its 
trade and investment regime. With limited exceptions the country is open to foreign direct 
investment, and it imposes relatively few barriers to imports. The Secretariat report seemed to 
indicate tha t greater clarity would be welcome as to what import prohibitions or restrictions do 
exist, as well as how import permits for restricted products are administered.  
4.8.  The Government of The Gambia has recognized for several years now the need to diversify 
its revenue sources beyond tariffs, and its participation in the ECOWAS common external tariff has 
inherently reduced its autonomy in setting tariff rates.  
4.9.  We were very pleased to see The Gambia ratify the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. The 
Government has s ignalled a strong interest in maintaining its high ranking in the region for ease of 
cross-border trade. Implementation of the TFA will help reduce the cost of doing business in The WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  Gambia and will foster greater certainty for the trading community. We loo k forward to The 
Gambia notifying its Category A and B commitments to the TFA Committee.  
4.10.   The Gambia has a relatively good track record on making notifications to the WTO, with 
some required notifications still outstanding. My Government attaches great impo rtance to WTO 
Members meeting this foundational requirement, with all the benefits that such transparency 
provides to all concerned. The Gambia should continue to provide international stakeholders the 
opportunity to comment on its draft regulations affect ing trade, such as the one the government is 
developing concerning the labelling of pre -packaged food.  
4.11.   We were pleased to see in the Secretariat's report that The Gambia has reformed its 
government procurement regime in line with international best practic es although we do note that 
a large proportion of public procurement appears to be occurring through restrictive tendering.  
4.12.   Finally, we view as positive the range of intellectual property rights protections in The 
Gambia's legislation, the fact that the co pyright law is being amended to strengthen it, and the 
fact that the government is pursuing enforcement. We would encourage the Government to join 
additional WIPO treaties, such as the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and 
Phonograms Treaty.  
4.13.   In closing, we welcome this opportunity to review The Gambia's trade policy regime and to 
provide feedback and observations on areas of progress and of concern. We recognize the 
challenges that The Gambia is facing but believe that continuing down the path  of transparency, 
reform, and open trade and investment policies will keep The Gambia on a positive trajectory. We 
look forward to studying The Gambia's answers to our questions and to those of other Members. 
We wish you a successful Trade Policy Review.  
EUROPEAN  UNION  
4.14.   The EU would like to start by commending The Gambia for its significant progress towards 
its re-integration into the international community.  
4.15.   The Gambia ranks among the poorest countries in the world and, during the period under 
review, its economic performance has been affected by a series of external shocks. Despite the 
economic challenges that the current Government is facing, the EU acknowledges that The Gambia 
has maintained a generally open trade and investment regime since its last TPR  held in 2010. 
Recently, its economy has started to recover following the sharp growth slowdown in 2016 and 
economic growth in 2017 is projected at 3%, with a strong rebound in tourism and trade, and 
renewed interest from foreign direct investors in energy , tourism, agriculture and transportation.  
4.16.   These positive results are encouraging and could help The Gambia to become an attractive 
production platform and a key regional trading hub.  
4.17.   Among the reforms that have taken place during the period under review,  the EU 
appreciates The Gambia's policy framework for investment as it contains measures that will boost 
FDI's and, more in general, the economic growth. The EU also appreciates the adoption of the 
five-band ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) from 1 Janua ry 2017.  
4.18.   The EU welcomes The Gambia's recognition of the importance of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement, and, in particular, the EU congratulates the country for its efforts to establish a Trade 
Facilitation Committee. However, the EU notes that the notif ications of its Category A, B and C 
commitments are still outstanding and encourages The Gambia to submit them in the near future. 
This would allow the EU as well as other donors to clearly identify its needs for tailored and 
adequate technical and financi al assistance for supporting its implementation.  
4.19.   A word on our bilateral relationship. Relations between the EU and The Gambia are 
governed by the Cotonou Agreement. A new chapter in relations with The Gambia has been 
opened in January 2017, following the change of government marked by the determination of The 
Gambian Government to reengage with its partners at regional and international level, including 
through trade. Since then, a broad and intensive political dialogue between the EU and The 
Gambia is ong oing.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  4.20.   The Gambia is a Party of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and 
West Africa. Gambian authorities have expressed in a first announcement back in February 2017 
their commitment to sign the agreement. The EU hopes that The Gambia's  signature of the EPA 
will become effective as soon as feasible. In the meantime, The Gambia continues to benefit from 
preferential treatment under the Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement.  
4.21.   The EU continues to be The Gambia's main donor in the area of devel opment cooperation. 
The envelope available to The Gambia in the 11th European Development Fund for the period 
2014-2020 amounts to €150 million. EU has stepped up support for sustainable and inclusive 
development and is committed to supporting the governme nt's reform agenda to establish strong 
democratic institutions in full respect of human rights and the rule of law.  
4.22.   At regional level, The Gambia is a member of the regional integration group of countries 
forming the Economic Community of West African Stat es as well as the African Union. The EU 
encourages The Gambia as a member of ECOWAS and of the West African Monetary Zone 
(WAMZ), to actively participate in regional integration and economic development policies.  
4.23.   At a multilateral level, the EU acknowledg es that The Gambia's broad objective is to 
maintain an open and liberal trading environment and to better integrate The Gambia into the 
global economy.  
4.24.   The EU shares with The Gambia the great importance to the issue of gender equality and 
women's pivotal role in the economy and, in particular, is pleased that The Gambia acknowledges 
the positive impact trade has on gender empowerment. In this respect, the EU commends the 
Government of The Gambia for the establishment of the National Gender Policy 2010 -2020.  
4.25.   Within this general overall positive context, the EU considers that in certain areas there is 
still room for improvement. In particular:  
 First, The Gambia should further foster a business -friendly environment by streamlining 
business establishment procedures, facilitate the access to financing, improving the 
procedures in labour market, building capacity in competition regime, and increasin g efforts 
in tackling corruption.  
 Second, The Gambia should develop a competitive private sector and, in particular, it should 
continue promoting investments in priority sectors, such as agro -processing, energy and 
infrastructure, and ICT.  
 Third and last  point, the EU appreciates the commitment of The Gambia's government to the 
multilateral trading system and, referring to its call for support contained in its Government 
report, the EU stands ready to support its efforts in the implementation of the WTO 
commitments and to enhance its integration into the global economy. The National 
Development Plan will be an important instrument in order to focalise donor support.  
4.26.   On behalf of the EU, I wish The Gambia the utmost success during its Trade Policy Review.  
CANADA  
4.27.   Canada does not currently have extensive commercial relations with The Gambia but we 
nonetheless want to take the floor today to encourage the Government's efforts to rebuild public 
institutions and improve governance and service delivery for the Gam bian people.  
4.28.   A review of the Secretariat and Government reports reveals the scope of liberalization 
efforts pursued by the new Government of The Gambia in many sectors of its economy. The 
success of these reforms will certainly be assured by sound macro -economic management and 
good governance.  
4.29.   We note, for example, that the country has already achieved improvements through 
structural and fiscal reforms introduced since the last review. These include full adoption of the 
ECOWAS common tariff; a new investme nt law; as well as new legislation dealing with 
competition, fisheries, food standards and intellectual property. The Gambia has also reformed its WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  Industrial Property Act and government procurement regime in line with international best 
practices, and Cana da encourages The Gambia to consider acceding to the Agreement on 
Government Procurement.  
4.30.   While Canada recognizes The Gambia's strong will for reform, Canada also believes that to 
achieve its goals the country needs to unlock its underlying potential by ta king concrete steps to 
enable growth across multiple sectors.  
4.31.   We note that the Government of The Gambia continues to prioritize the agriculture sector in 
its development agenda and to reinforce relationships with development partners to promote 
agricultur al production and food productivity for food security and enhanced rural livelihoods. In 
this context, we need to make sure that women and girls are empowered to reach their full 
potential so they can earn their own livelihoods, which will benefit families  and promote the 
economic growth of their communities and country. Canada applauds The Gambia's endorsement 
of the Declaration on Women and Trade at MC11 and look forward to cooperating with you in this 
respect.   
4.32.   Another area requiring immediate focus and  investment are the infrastructure and power 
sectors. Access to affordable and reliable power as well as good infrastructure are a prerequisite 
for economic development, with the potential to have a multiplier effect on growth. In addition, 
the power and i nfrastructure sectors facilitate high capital spending, which can promote 
investment and build economic competitiveness.  
4.33.   The Gambia has recently taken a variety of measures to address corruption and reduce its 
devastating effects on its economy. We commen d these measures, but cannot help but note that 
the Gambia still ranks 146th out of 185 economies in the most recent World Bank's Ease of Doing 
Business survey, and places 145th out of 176 in Transparency International's Corruption 
Perceptions Index. We th erefore welcome Gambia's continuing efforts on this matter.  
4.34.   Achieving the goal of long -term growth depends on continuous improvements in the 
performance of the public sector and state -owned enterprises, and in particular in strengthening 
the private sector , including through further privatization. Improvements in these areas would 
attract a broader range of potential partners, including many firms and institutional investors from 
Canada and elsewhere. We invite and encourage The Gambia to keep Members infor med of further 
developments in this area.  
4.35.   We welcome The Gambia's ratification of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation and look 
forward to receiving notifications of its Category A, B, and C commitments, as well as indicative 
dates for Category B. We also encourage the Gambia to deposit its instrument of acceptance of the 
Protocol amending the TRIPS agreement.  
4.36.   Although commercial relations with Canada are currently limited, there are always 
opportunities, particularly in education, tourism, agriculture, en ergy and infrastructure for further 
business linkages. The Gambia's maritime and Atlantic connections also make it an important 
potential regional partner for many WTO Members.  
4.37.   We therefore wish the delegation of The Gambia all success in this Trade Policy  Review and 
in your ongoing reform efforts, and we will follow with interest your continued integration into the 
global trading system.  
JAPAN  
4.38.   Needless to say, Japan has been providing cooperation for the development of The Gambia 
for many years, and Japan will continue to make every effort to maintain and further develop the 
good relationship between us.  
4.39.   According to the Secretariat reports, The Gambia's recent real GDP growth has been 
relatively weaker than previous years, averaging 2.9% in the review peri od, as a result of certain 
internal issues and external shocks such as natural disasters.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  4.40.   Moreover, The Gambia's economy relies on two main drivers of growth: services, which 
comprise 66% of GDP; and agriculture, which makes up 21% of GDP. So Japan hopes T he Gambia 
will accelerate its industrial diversification to promote the stabilization of its economy.  
4.41.   On the other hand, Japan welcomes the country's introduction of VAT in January 2013, 
which led to its economic growth of 4.8% in 2013. We expect The Gambi a to continue to promote 
positive economic reform.  
4.42.   Let me turn to the WTO issues.  
4.43.   We commend The Gambia on the efforts it has been making to commit to the multilateral 
trading system. During the review period, The Gambia provided 21 notifications to the WT O. 
Moreover, The Gambia deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
in July 2017, and today, the Gambia submitted its Category A, B, and C notifications to the WTO. 
We look forward to studying the Gambia's Category C notifica tions which we can identify the 
Gambia's needs of assistance.  
4.44.   Let me next make some comments on The Gambia's trade policies.  
4.45.   Japan is pleased to note that The Gambia has actively introduced and maintained various 
methods for trade facilitation.  
4.46.   For example, in January 2017, The Gambia implemented the new five -tiered ECOWAS 
Common External Tariff (CET), which has a lower simple average applied MFN rate of CET than 
that of The Gambia's customs tariff of 2010.  
4.47.   Moreover, The Gambia has taken the fol lowing actions to promote trade: it relaxed its 
documentation requirements for importers; it made appropriate pre -arrival declarations to The 
Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), which helped to expedite the customs process; and it updated 
and rolled out its na tional electronic customs date system (ASYCUDA).  
4.48.   The Gambia's efforts in this regard have increased its ranking to number two in the region 
in terms of ease of cross -border trade in 2017, and have also contributed to facilitating world 
trade.  
4.49.   Before conclu ding, I would like to touch upon Japan's initiatives to provide support for 
African countries.  
4.50.   First, Japan announced plans to implement quality infrastructure investment through such 
means as region -wide development, resource and energy development, and u rban development at 
the 6th meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which 
was held in 2016.  
4.51.   Second, on 8 December 2017, the Japanese Government made a pledge to provide 
approximately US$300 million over the next three years to support the development of the 
information and communications technology field, including e -commerce, in developing countries.  
4.52.   Japan hopes The Gambia will utilize these forms of assistance for further development and 
actively engage in future disc ussions on e -commerce and the digital economy.  
4.53.   We wish The Gambia a successful and productive TPR.  
CHINA  
4.54.   As the reports point out, Gambia is one of the least developed and poorest countries in the 
world. Though Gambia has weathered the global financial cri sis relatively well, the economic 
performance was considerably weaker after 2010 and the new Government is facing a serious of 
economic challenges including large budget deficits, weaknesses in the business environment, 
infrastructure bottlenecks, etc.. Th us, we would encourage Gambia to undertake further domestic 
reforms and adjustment of macroeconomic and trade policies, to relieve the high government WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  borrowing, create a more competitive business environment, attract more investments and 
enhance economic resilience and diversification.  
4.55.   We also appreciate Gambia's commitment to the multilateral trading system in the 
Government report and commend its ratification of Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2017.  
4.56.   China attaches importance to cooperation with Gambia a nd is willing to enhance Gambia's 
capacity for self -development and sustainable development. We have granted Zero Tariff 
Treatment to the Products in 97% of the Tariff Lines from Gambia since 1 December 2017.  
4.57.   On 21 December 2017, witnessed by President Xi and Gambia's President Barrow, China's 
Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan and Gambia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, International 
Cooperation and Gambians Abroad Darboe signed the Memorandum of Understanding on 
Economy, Trade, Investment and Technical Coopera tion between China and Gambia in Beijing. 
According to the MOU, China and Gambia officially build bilateral joint committee of economics and 
trade mechanism. We firmly believe the established committee will lead the friendly cooperation 
between the two cou ntries in areas such as trade, investment, infrastructure, development 
assistance and human resources, playing an important role in developing the relationship between 
China and Gambia.  
4.58.   According to our statistics, the two -way trade reached US$410 million from January to 
October 2017, increasing by 18.8%. The stock of China's investment in Gambia is US$12.8 million 
by the end of 2016. China would like to continue to earnestly make our due support to the 
development of Gambia under the South -South cooperatio n framework.  
4.59.   We have raised some questions on Gambia's economic and trade policy, covering the areas 
of investment, taxation, environmental impact assessment and business environment 
improvement. We appreciate the responses from the Gambia's delegation to our questions, which 
we will study closely.  
4.60.   I would wish this Trade Policy Review of Gambia a complete success.  
THAILAND  
4.61.   In 2016, the trade value between Thailand and The Gambia was US$21 million, with exports 
and imports value at US$20 million and US$200 thousand, respectively.  
4.62.   Although the bilateral trade between Thailand and The Gambia is still relatively small, there 
is trade potential that can be explored. For exports, such potential may exist in plastics, fabrics, 
cereals, vehicles, paper and electric  machinery. While wood, iron, and steel can be considered 
high-potential imports.  
4.63.   Thailand would like to congratulate The Gambia on depositing its instrument of acceptance 
of the Trade Facilitation Agreement on 11 July 2017. We would also like to commend T he Gambia 
for its effort to further facilitate trade, which includes the implementation of laws and regulations 
in accordance with the WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation; the adoption of international 
standards; and the reform of its government procurement  regime in line with international best 
practice.  
4.64.   In this review, Thailand submitted a few questions to The Gambia, covering, among others, 
issues regarding the maritime transport strategy of the Government, foreign investment in river 
transport, and land leasing by a foreign investor in tourism sector. We thank The Gambia for 
timely responses to our questions, and will study them in detail with great interest.  
4.65.   In conclusion, Thailand would like to express our appreciation to The Gambian delegation for 
today's presentation. We wish The Gambia every success in the third Trade Policy Review.  
INDIA  
4.66.   Gambia is amongst the smallest countries on the African Mainland. The GDP growth of 
Gambia slowed down from 4.3% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2016 and during the period under review WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  grew at an average of 2.9% from 2010 -16. The economy of Gambia still remains largely reliant on 
agriculture, tourism, re -exports, remittances and international aid. The challenges facing Gambia 
include large public debt, diversification of the econo my, infrastructural needs, vulnerability to 
droughts and addressing poverty and socio -economic development. We commend the Government 
of Gambia for the efforts being made to address these challenges including taking fiscal measures 
for revenue mobilisation , reduction of fiscal deficit, creating of a competitive business 
environment, addressing debt sustainability and diversification of the economy.  
4.67.   India and Gambia share warm and cordial relations. The bilateral trade between India and 
Gambia stood at USD 1 06 million in 2016 -17. Though modest there is considerable potential to 
expand trade and economic ties between both countries in areas including textiles, cotton yarn, 
drugs and pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, engineering goods, machinery, metals a nd 
minerals.  
4.68.   During the third India -Africa Summit, our Prime Minister announced a comprehensive 
development assistance plan for all the African countries over the next five years which include 
US$10 billion in LOCs; US$600 million as grant assistance and U S$100 million through India -Africa 
Development Assistance Fund. Under Development Partnership Cooperation, India has been 
assisting Gambia for socio -economic development. Concessionary lines of credit have been 
extended for the following projects:  
i. US$6.7 million for a tractor assembly plant project;  
ii. US$10 million for the construction of National Assembly Building Complex;  
iii. In 2014 a US$22.5 million credit line for expansion of electricity project in Greater Banjul 
Area and replacement of Asbestos W ater Pipes by UPVC Pipes in Greater Banjul Area;  
iv. Recently in 2015 a US$92 million credit line for expansion of Banjul port in Gambia and 
US$10 million for the Gambia Rural Electrification Extension Project.  
4.69.   India is also extending assistance to Gambia in the area of new and renewable energy, 
vocational training, ICT and agro & food processing.  
4.70.   For capacity building and human resources development, India is regularly offering 
scholarships to Gambian professionals under India's Economic and Technical Coopera tion 
programme. Scholarships are also being extended to students from Gambia for studying in India 
by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.  
4.71.   India has always been a supporter of special dispensation for LDCs and provides 98.2% 
tariff lines as duty fre e or preferential access to LDCs with applicable tariff on all cotton lines at 
zero. We have also provided one of the most liberal packages for services waiver, including 
complete waiver of visa fees.  
4.72.   To conclude, we look forward to working closely with th e authorities of Gambia for further 
expanding and harnessing the potential of our trade and investment ties for mutual benefit. We 
wish the delegation of Gambia a productive and successful TPR.  
BÉNIN  
4.73.   La délégation du Bénin s'associe aux déclarations faites  par le Rwanda au nom du Groupe 
africain et le Cambodge au nom du Groupe des pays les moins avancés (PMA).  
4.74.   Sur le plan économique, la Gambie a enregistré sous la période sous examen des 
performances encourageantes, en dépit des chocs extérieurs et des cons équences des aléas 
climatiques auxquels l'économie du pays reste très sensible, induisant une évolution sinusoïdale de 
la croissance qui a connu une chute jusqu'à 0,9% en 2014 avant de reprendre pour atteindre 
4,3% en 2015. Cette croissance devrait s'établ ir à 3% pour l'année 2017.  
4.75.   La délégation du Bénin félicite et encourage le gouvernement gambien pour ses efforts de 
réformes visant la relance de l'économie gambienne, notamment la mise en œuvre des WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
- 20 - 
 
  dispositions du TEC CEDEAO relative aux droits de douanes  et d'accises, la simplification du régime 
fiscal, le lancement de la quatrième phase du projet Gamswitch destiné à offrir un moyen plus 
étendu et plus efficace de traitement des transactions financières en Gambie, et la poursuite de la 
libéralisation des télécommunications pour attirer les investisseurs dans le secteur.  
4.76.   L'agriculture, la pêche et le tourisme sont les secteurs dominants de l'économie gambienne. 
Les différentes réformes structurelles mises en œuvre par la Gambie, notamment la réforme 
agricol e, la réforme dans le domaine de la concurrence, dans le secteur manufacturier, la réforme 
fiscale et budgétaire, ont contribué à faire enregistrer des résultats économiques et commerciaux 
pour la poursuite et l'amélioration desquels la Gambie devra être s outenue.  
4.77.   La délégation du Bénin encourage la Gambie à poursuivre ses efforts visant la diversification 
et la restructuration de son économie.  
4.78.   Sur le plan commercial, les politiques mises en place par la Gambie visent à stimuler les 
exportations, le dévelop pement économique et la création d'emplois, etc. Dans ce cadre, deux 
Plans stratégiques ont été élaborés, soutenus par la réalisation de l'Étude diagnostique sur 
l'intégration du commerce (EDIC) à la mi -juin 2013. Il s'agit du Plan à moyen terme 2016 -2020 et 
de la Stratégie d'exportation nationale 2013 -2017.  
4.79.   Cet attachement affirmé de la Gambie au système commercial multilatéral et à l'intégration 
régionale afin de faire du commerce un moyen pour stimuler la croissance et soutenir le 
développement, s'est tr aduit par la ratification de l'Accord sur la facilitation des échanges et la 
conclusion de plusieurs accords commerciaux, régionaux, sous -régionaux et bilatéraux.  
4.80.   La délégation du Bénin invite les partenaires au développement à soutenir les efforts de la 
Gambie, notamment dans la construction des infrastructures socioéconomiques et de transport, et 
pour la mise en valeur du potentiel important que le pays offre dans les domaines de l'agriculture, 
de la pêche, de l'énergie, des mines et du tourisme.  
4.81.   La délég ation du Bénin remercie le Secrétariat de l'OMC et le gouvernement de la Gambie 
pour les rapports très informatifs élaborés dans le cadre de la présente session d'Examen des 
politiques commerciales de la Gambie.  
4.82.   Elle souhaite plein succès à la Gambie et un  examen réussi de ses politiques commerciales.  
ARGENTINA  
4.83.   La República Argentina observa con gran interés que, desde el último examen de las 
políticas comerciales realizado en 2010, Gambia ha mantenido un régimen de comercio e inversión 
abierto. Gambia ha resistido relativamente bien a la crisis financiera, registrando un crecimiento 
económico sólido desde el año 2007 a la fecha, el cual llegó a superar el 5,6% durante el período 
2007-2010.  
4.84.   En cuanto al comercio bilateral, cabe destacar que éste ha crecido notablemente en los 
últimos dos años, superando casi un 40% al registrado en 2011. Argentina exporta a Gambia, 
entre otros productos de origen agropecuario, arroz, porotos y arvejas.  
4.85.   Destacamos la importancia  de la reforma arancelaria emprendida por Gambi a que implicó 
la adopción del Arancel Externo Común (AEC) de la Comunidad Económica de los Estados de África 
Occidental (CEDEAO). El AEC, que fue adoptado en enero de 2017, ha supuesto el ajuste de los 
tipos arancelarios aplicables a casi dos tercios (unos  4000 en total) de las líneas arancelarias.  
4.86.   La Argentina saluda las acciones emprendidas por la Agencia de Promoción de las 
Inversiones y las Exportaciones de Gambia (GIEPA). Es destacable, entre otras, la administración 
del programa certificado de inversi ón especial; el cual ofrece diversos incentivos para la Inversión 
Extranjera Directa (IED) en sectores y zonas considerados prioritarios.  
4.87.   Quisiéramos poner de relieve la mejora sustancial que ha experimentado la infraestructura 
de telecomunicaciones, en es pecial a través del establecimiento de la estación de aterrizaje del 
cable submarino "Africa Coast to Europe" en 2012 y la finalización de la red troncal de fibra óptica WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  de alcance nacional en 2015. Deseamos que la nueva Política Nacional de Información e 
Infraestructura de las Comunicaciones 2017 -2025 se convierta en una herramienta clave para 
mejorar el entorno reglamentario y el acceso a la banda ancha en todo el país.  
4.88.   La Argentina resalta que Gambia ha notificado a la OMC que sus leyes, reglamentos y 
procedimientos administrativos están en conformidad con las disposiciones del Acuerdo sobre 
Valoración en Aduana de la OMC. Asimismo, y a los fines de salvaguardar la competitividad de la 
economía, se han otorgado considerables exenciones de derechos e imp uestos de importación para 
las importaciones de bienes de capital y productos intermedios.  
4.89.   Por último, mencionamos que la República Argentina considera como muy positivos los 
progresos realizados por Gambia en el ámbito de las normas y las prescripciones t écnicas. En este 
sentido, cabe subrayar que desde la entrada en funcionamiento en 2011 de la Oficina de Normas 
de Gambia (TGSB), esta ha publicado 33 normas; la mayoría de ellas basadas directamente en 
normas internacionales.  
4.90.   Finalizando, y al tiempo de re iterar nuestro reconocimiento por esta nueva oportunidad de 
intercambiar elementos de juicio y consideraciones sobre las políticas y prácticas comerciales de 
Gambia, permítanos señalar, una vez más, la relevancia de este ejercicio de transparencia en 
todos  sus aspectos y desear a las autoridades gambianas la exitosa conclusión del presente 
examen.  
SINGAPORE  
4.91.   Trade flows between Singapore and The Gambia, albeit modest, saw healthy growth in 
2016.1 This is a positive trend and we believe there is potential for  deeper bilateral economic 
relations.  
4.92.   Despite weathering the 2008 Global Financial Crisis relatively well, The Gambia has since 
seen slower growth averaging 2.9% between 2010 and 2016. This was primarily hampered by 
weaknesses in the business environment,  infrastructure bottlenecks, and external shocks. That 
said, we note The Gambia's recent efforts at improving its business environment, including in 
amending its Industrial Property Act (to improve protection of Intellectual Property rights), and 
upgrading  its telecommunication infrastructure through the National Information and 
Communication Infrastructure Policy 2017 -2025. We are encouraged by these developments and 
urge The Gambia to continue in its efforts to ensure sustained future economic growth.  
4.93.   We commend The Gambia's timely ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). We 
hope that this will avail them of further resources to further improve their business and trading 
environment. We also appreciate The Gambia's efforts at transparency i n submitting 21 WTO 
notifications in the period under review. We note that there are still outstanding notifications, 
including on domestic support in Agriculture, and we encourage The Gambia to rectify this as soon 
as possible. We also note that The Gambi a has yet to ratify the Protocol amending the TRIPS 
Agreement, and also urge them to do so as soon as possible.  
4.94.   Finally, we wish The Gambia every success in its 3rd Trade Policy Review.  
GHANA  
4.95.   Since the last review, The Gambian economy has been generally st able with robust 
economic growth until recently when growth contracted from 4.3% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2016. The 
contraction was principally due to the decline in tourism earnings and reduced agricultural outputs 
due to, among others, delayed rains in 2014. S ubsistence, rural and rain fed agriculture is one of 
the major drivers of The Gambia's economy contributing about 21% to the GDP in 2016 and 
serving as the main source of livelihood of the majority of the rural population.  
4.96.   The Gambia relies heavily on serv ices which contributed about 66% to GDP in 2016. 
However, after experiencing some decline in 2015, the services sector again picked up growth in 
2016, which was quite impressive, especially in the 2014 Ebola crisis in the region.  
                                                
1 Trade flows increased by 58.7% to 1.39 million SGD in 2016.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  4.97.   The Gambian Government's effort at holding inflation at below 5%, tightening monetary 
policy and strengthening banking supervision, is commendable. We wish to encourage The Gambia 
to improve its debt sustainability policies as a means of reducing public debt.  
4.98.   On the bilateral leve l, Ghana has had long historical ties with The Gambia. Though trade 
between the two countries is very minimal, Ghanaian teachers and experts have been working in 
the Gambia since colonial days.  
4.99.   To demonstrate our bilateral attachment with The Gambia, last year, even before President 
Akufo -Addo had formed his Government, Ghana sent 205 combat troops to The Gambia as part of 
the regional mission to support the creation of a peaceful environment and to facilitate the 
inauguration of the President -Elect, Adama Barrow, on Thursday, 19 January 2017.  
4.100.   At the Multilateral level, we recognize The Gambia's ratification of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement in March 2017 and the measures to improve trade facilitation infrastructure including 
the Single Window business reg istration and the building of the Cargo Complex at Banjul 
International Airport, with assistance from the EIF project, to address inadequate storage for 
export products which will go a long way to improving customs clearance and delivery of port 
services.  
4.101.   On the ECOWAS Front, we welcome The Gambia's ratification of the Free Movement 
Protocol and all its supplementary protocols, the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade 
Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) and the Common External Tariff which will improve intra -ECOWAS  
trade for the benefit of all Members.  
4.102.   As a Member of the ECOWAS, Ghana appreciates The Gambia's acceptance to host the 
ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority, a body to regulate anti -competitive practices within the 
regional market.  
4.103.   The performance of the  agriculture sector of the Gambia, since the last review, has been 
declining with total agricultural output dropping from 308,141 tonnes in 2010 to 268,543 tonnes in 
2015. As one of the main contributors to the GDP of the country, and the main stay of a ma jority 
of the populace, we wish to spur the Government on, to reinforce its efforts at addressing the 
challenges in the agricultural sector such as the introduction of projects to improve irrigation and 
build feeder roads to provide access to markets for a gricultural produce.  
4.104.   Lastly, Ghana would like to call on development partners to support The Gambia in 
implementing its trade and economic policies to reduce poverty and create jobs for its people.  
4.105.   Ghana wishes The Gambia a successful Trade Policy Review.  
PAKISTAN  
4.106.   The Gambia is the smallest country on the African mainland, with a per capita income of 
less than US$500. It has managed to keep on growing economically despite the global challenges 
and external shocks. It recorded solid economic growth in the pe riod 2007 -10, averaging over 
5.6% and 2.9% in the period 2010 -16. The Gambia's economy relies mainly on services which at 
66% of GDP in 2016 is the main driver of growth. Remittances and international aid play an 
important role in sustaining the economy. T he export base is very small (US$19.1 million in 2015), 
consisting mainly of groundnuts and fish.  
4.107.   Pakistan welcomes The Gambia's acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. It is 
worthwhile to mention that The Gambia is a member of the least developed  countries (LDC) and 
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) groups, the African Group, the G -90, and the "W52" sponsors.  
4.108.   The WTO and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) trade regime 
provide the basic parameters for The Gambia's trade poli cies.  
4.109.   For the Gambia, the change from the national customs tariff (2010) to the ECOWAS CET is 
a major tariff reform, entailing adjustments in the customs duty rates for nearly two thirds of all 
tariff lines. The simple average applied MFN tariff rate of t he CET (12.3%) is lower than that of the WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  Gambian customs tariff of 2010 (14.1%), and a wider range of products is now classified as inputs 
(essential commodities, raw materials, and capital goods), which have had their tariffs reduced to 
5%. Most goods can  be traded without any restrictions. Nonetheless, The Gambia has notified the 
WTO that it does not maintain an import licensing system and has never used trade contingency 
measures.  
4.110.   Pakistan appreciates that Gambia has maintained its generally open trade a nd investment 
regime since the last TPR in 2010. The Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GIEPA) 
is responsible for investment and export promotion, administering the Special Investment 
Certificate (SIC) scheme and the export processing zone near  Banjul International Airport. SICs 
offer a range of incentives (with minimum FDI of US$250,000 in priority sectors and areas).  
4.111.   Pakistan has noted that The Gambia has made progress in the area of standards and 
technical requirements. The Gambia Standards B ureau (TGSB) became operational in 2011 and 
has since promulgated 33 standards, most of them directly adopted from international standards.  
4.112.   Competition rules are governed by the Competition Act of 2007, with The Gambia 
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (GCCPC) as the enforcement agency.  
4.113.   Pakistan commends that with regard to developments in the services sector, the banking 
sector is liquid and profitable. Most banks are foreign -owned. The payments system, including the 
clearing and settlement infrastructure, has been modernized through tec hnical improvements. 
Pakistan welcomes the fact that the telecom infrastructure has been substantially upgraded, with 
the establishment of the African Coast to Europe submarine cable landing station in 2012 and the 
completion of a nationwide fibre -optic ba ckbone network in 2015. The new National Information 
and Communication Infrastructure Policy 2017 -2025 aims at technology neutral regulatory 
environment and more affordable broadband access in the country. Two out of four mobile carriers 
are foreign -owned.  
4.114.   We are highly appreciative of the positive role played by the Gambian Mission in Geneva 
towards upholding the sanctity of the multilateral trading system and their engagement in this 
forum.  
4.115.   In the end, we want to wish Gambia a very successful and a fruitf ul TPR.  
TOGO,  COORDONNATEUR  DES  ÉTATS  MEMBRES  DE LA CEDEAO  
4.116.   Sur la base des informations contenues dans les deux rapports d'examen des politiques 
commerciales, nous souhaitons faire les commentaires et observations suivants.  
4.117.   Malgré la baisse de la croissance du PIB réel pour 2016 qui n'a été que de 2,2%, contre 
4,3% l'année précédente, les perspectives de l'économie gambienne sont favorables et la 
croissance du PIB réel devrait être de 3,0%.  
4.118.   Sur le plan sectoriel, les service s ont connu un déclin, avec une croissance de 3,7% 
seulement en 2015, contre 6,0% l'année précédente. Ce mauvais résultat a été imputé à la faible 
fréquentation touristique résultant de la crise Ebola de 2014.  
4.119.   Heureusement qu'au niveau de l'agriculture et  du tourisme on s'attend à un retour de la 
croissance grâce à une augmentation des investissements et à une coordination entre les 
politiques des principales parties prenantes en 2017.  
4.120.   2Á cet égard, nous notons avec satisfaction que le gouvernement gambien  continue de 
donner la priorité à l'agriculture dans son programme de développement en renforçant ses liens 
avec les partenaires de développement afin d'encourager la production agricole et la productivité 
alimentaire, de manière à assurer la sécurité alim entaire et à renforcer les moyens de subsistance 
en milieu rural. Nous saluons ces actions car elles permettent de lutter efficacement contre la 
pauvreté.  
4.121.   Au niveau de la CEDEAO, nous constatons que la Gambie bénéficie de plusieurs 
programmes de développem ent commercial et économique et qu'elle a mis en œuvre des WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  protocoles et des programmes qui orientent ses plans d'intégration régionale et de développement 
économique. Parmi les plus pertinents en matière commerciale, on peut citer le Protocole sur la 
libre circulation des personnes et des biens, le Régime de transit routier inter -États (TRIE) de la 
CEDEAO et le Régime de libéralisation des échanges de la CEDEAO.  
4.122.   Nous souhaitons, à ce stade, féliciter la Gambie pour son application effective du Tarif 
extéri eur commun (TEC) de la CEDEAO depuis le 1er janvier 2017 et nous restons engagés avec 
elle dans la perspective de la renégociation des concessions tarifaires à l'OMC que tous les pays de 
la CEDEAO s'apprêtent à effectuer de façon groupée pendant la période  triennale 2018 -2020, 
même si la Gambie, comme quelques autres membres de la CEDEAO, n'enregistrent pas de 
violations de leurs consolidations suite à cette application du TEC.  
4.123.   Nous espérons qu'avec des réformes solides et l'engagement des dirigeants actuel s, 
l'économie gambienne va continuer sa marche vers une transformation structurelle constante au 
bénéfice de ses populations.  
4.124.   Enfin, nous saisissons cette occasion pour souhaiter à la délégation gambienne un Examen 
de sa politique commerciale couronné de s uccès.  
SÉNÉGAL  
4.125.   Le Sénégal s'associe aux déclarations du Rwanda, du Cambodge et du Togo au nom des 
Groupes africain, PMA et CEDEAO.  
4.126.   Depuis son dernier examen en 2010, la Gambie a maintenu son régime commercial et 
d'investissements ouvert malgré des difficul tés notées sur le plan politique et malgré un 
environnement difficile.  
4.127.   La croissance du PIB réel a été certes plus faible que prévu, s'établissant en moyenne à 
2,9% au cours de la période 2010 -2016. Cependant, l'économie gambienne donne des signes 
encourag eants avec une projection du taux de croissance du PIB réel prévu à 3%.  
4.128.   La Gambie dépend particulièrement des services qui constituent 66% du PIB selon des 
estimations faites en 2016. Ce secteur est le principal moteur de la croissance avec celui de 
l'agriculture, ainsi que du secteur de la pêche.  
4.129.   Les envois de fonds et legs internationales jouent également un rôle important dans le 
soutien de l'économie gambienne.  
4.130.   Les conséquences de la fièvre hémorragique Ebola de 2014 ont notamment eu des 
conséquences s ur le pays comme sur ses voisins. Néanmoins, les efforts fournis par le 
gouvernement de Gambie permettent d'espérer une croissance du secteur du tourisme et de 
l'agriculture. Cela grâce à l'augmentation des investissements et à la coordination des politiqu es 
entre les principales parties prenantes.  
4.131.   Il faut souligner que le gouvernement gambien a réformé ses principales politiques 
commerciales et le tarif extérieur commun (TEC) à cinq bandes de la CEDEAO a été adopté depuis 
le 1er janvier 2017. En parallèle, la Gambie a aussi poursuivi ses efforts en matière de facilitation 
des échanges, en témoigne le dépôt de son instrument de ratification de l'Accord sur la facilitation 
des échanges en juillet 2017.  
4.132.   En outre, les procédures dou anières de la Gambie en matière d'évaluation en douane des 
règles d'origine et de transit sont régies par les règles de la CEDEAO. La Gambie a également 
notifié à l'OMC que ses lois et réglementations étaient conformes aux dispositions de l'Accord de 
l'OMC  sur l'évaluation en douane. Comme l'indique le rapport du Secrétariat, la plupart des biens 
peut faire l'objet d'échanges sans aucune restriction.  
4.133.   Cette dynamique milite en faveur de l'accroissement des relations commerciales entre la 
Gambie et les autres  pays africains, en particulier ceux de la CEDEAO et le Sénégal.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  4.134.   Permettez -moi d'évoquer ici les liens particuliers qui unissent la République de Gambie et 
la République du Sénégal. La Gambie et le Sénégal entretiennent en effet des liens historiques, 
culturels et multisectoriels se manifestant par une solidarité, ainsi que par d'importantes relations 
de coopération et d'échanges.  
4.135.   Comme l'a rappelé Monsieur Macky Sall, Président de la République du Sénégal, lors de la 
cérémonie d'investiture de Monsieur Ada ma Barrow, Président de la Gambie, nos deux pays sont 
inséparables car ils partagent les mêmes valeurs, le même mode de vie, la même histoire. La 
Gambie et le Sénégal constituent un même peuple. Á cet égard, la délégation du Sénégal voudrait 
saisir cette o ccasion pour appeler les Membres de l'OMC à accorder une attention particulière à la 
Gambie afin d'accroître ses possibilités d'exportation, de mettre en œuvre ses engagements à 
l'OMC et de renforcer son intégration dans le système commercial multilatéral et l'économie 
mondiale.  
4.136.   Madame le Ministre, c'est le lieu pour la délégation sénégalaise de vous féliciter, ainsi que 
l'ensemble du gouvernement de Gambie pour les efforts mis en œuvre et les réformes entreprises 
en vue de créer des emplois et de réduire l a pauvreté malgré un contexte économique 
international difficile.  
4.137.   Le Sénégal exhorte la République sœur de Gambie à poursuivre son engagement et ses 
efforts visant à renforcer son ouverture au commerce et aux chaînes de valeur mondiales, 
notamment par la p oursuite de la réduction de la protection tarifaire, l'élimination des restrictions 
quantitatives, la simplification des procédures du commerce extérieur, l'instauration d'un 
environnement propice au développement des affaires pour achever la transformatio n structurelle 
de l'économie gambienne et atteindre une croissance davantage inclusive et durable.  
4.138.   Nous nous réjouissons déjà de collaborer avec la représentation que la Gambie envisage 
d'installer à Genève. Je conclue en vous souhaitant, ainsi qu'à la dél égation qui vous accompagne, 
un succès éclatant dans l'examen de votre politique commerciale.  
EGYPT  
4.139.   Egypt supports the statement of Rwanda on behalf of the African Group.  
4.140.   Egypt is pleased to see that, despite certain unfavourable developments that have affected 
the national economy of The Gambia, such as the Ebola crisis, the decline in tourism earnings and 
reduced agricultural outputs, the Gambian economy has been generally stable with robust 
economic growth over the last five years. Furthermore, the ou tlook of The Gambian economy is 
positive with an anticipated real GDP growth rate of 3.0%.  
4.141.   Egypt commends the fiscal measures adopted by the Government of The Gambia with a 
view to improving revenue mobilization, reducing the fiscal deficit and creating a competitive 
business environment, leading ultimately to the enhancement of the private sector development as 
well as attracting investments.  
4.142.   On another note, Egypt encourages The Gambia to further pursue tax reforms over the 
medium term to enhance revenues  and strengthen the business environment.  
4.143.   As for monetary policies, Egypt commends the monetary policy adopted by the 
Government of The Gambia, which aims at holding inflation to no more than 5% to prevent further 
price increases.  
4.144.   We note with appreciation  Gambia's commitment to tightening up the monetary policy and 
the continued strengthening of the supervision of the banking system to ensure compliance with 
the banking rules and operations.  
4.145.   Egypt is of the opinion that development is central to the functi on of the global trading 
system, and that trade plays a focal role in achieving sustainable development to various nations. 
Consequently, and since the Gambia is a least developing country, realizing development 
necessitates integration to the multilateral  trading system. We are, as well, of the conviction that 
this proactive integration of The Gambia will not be effectively realized without extending WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  necessary technical assistance. Consequently, we call upon the WTO to play its inherent role in this 
regard , in such a way that enables The Gambia to make full use of its potentials in realizing 
sustainable development.  
CAMBODIA  ON BEHALF  OF THE LDC GROUP  
4.146.   We have assessed through the reports that, since its last TPR, the Gambia has maintained 
its open trade and  investment regime, but the real GDP growth has been considerably weaker, 
averaging 2.9% in the period 2010 -16. However, the Gambian economy is positively projected 
with the anticipated real GDP growth rate of 3.0%.  
4.147.   We have noted that Gambia's economy reli es mainly on services (66% of GDP in 2016) as 
the main driver of growth and drought -prone agriculture sector (21% of GDP in 2016). 
Remittances and international aid play an important role in sustaining the economy. The service 
sector declined, with a growt h of only 3.7% in 2015 compared to 6.0% of the previous year. The 
underperformance of this sector was attributed to the low turnout of tourist as a result of the 2014 
Ebola crisis. Nonetheless, there is an expected growth in agriculture as well as tourism through the 
increase of investment and policy coordination amongst key stakeholders in upcoming years.  
4.148.   We have seen from the reports that, even though the country is open to foreign 
investment, economic growth has been affected by weaknesses of the busines s environment, 
including a complex tax system and infrastructure bottlenecks. Foreign direct investment (FDI) 
flows to Gambia have been instable, and remain far below levels preceding the global financial 
crisis. In this regard, we recommend the country to  consider simplify its business environment.  
4.149.   We have also observed that, in response to low trade and economic development 
performance, the Gambian Government has reformed its main trade policies with the adoption of 
the five -band ECOWAS Common External Ta riff (CET) since 1 January 2017. The LDC Group 
wishes the country a successful implementation of its trade policy reform.  
4.150.   We have been aware that Gambia, as an LDC, benefits from the EU's Everything But Arms 
(EBA) Initiative and also benefits from duty -free and quota -free (DFQF) accorded to LDCs by India, 
Republic of Korea, Morocco and the People's Republic of China. In this connection, the LDC Group 
calls on other Members to further grant non -reciprocal trade preferential treatment to LDCs, 
including Gambi a to enhance their export opportunities.  
4.151.   Finally, the LDC Group calls on WTO Members to continue their efforts to support small 
economies like the Gambia in the implementation of the WTO commitments and to enhance their 
integration into the multilateral tr ading system and the global economy.  
4.152.   Once again, on behalf of the LDC Group, I wish Gambia every success in their initiatives in 
promoting trade and economic development as well as a successful third TPR.  
RWANDA  ON BEHALF  OF THE AFRICAN  GROUP  
4.153.   The two repor ts highlight progress and challenges facing the Gambia's trade and 
development. It is highlighted that throughout the review period, The Gambia's economy has been 
relatively stable with a GDP growth of around 5.6% (but with a weaker real GDP growth averagi ng 
2.9% in the period of 2010 -2016); while the economic outlook is predicted to be relatively positive 
with a real GDP growth rate of 3%. Inflation has been kept at a single digit although it is still 
above the Central Bank target of 5%. We commend the Gov ernment of the Gambia for al 
macroeconomic efforts undertaken in this regard. At sectoral level, however, the challenges seem 
huge although not insurmountable; but to address current structural challenges, it will require a 
transformative agenda for a futu re sustained and inclusive economic growth.  
4.154.   Indeed, The Gambia's economy relies heavily on services accounting for 66% of GDP in 
2016 (WTO report); 21% for agriculture; a meagre 5 -6% for manufacturing and 2% for fisheries. 
This said, we positively note the  Government's commitment to implement sectoral policies for 
more diversification and productivity. In this regard, we welcome the review of the industrial policy 
which is underway with the objective of transforming the manufacturing sector. Likewise, we 
welcome efforts towards sustained diversification of food production despite pervasive drought.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  4.155.   More generally, the Gambia, as a small economy, exhibits a trade profile that has a 
number of similarities with most African economies:  
i. A small export basket domi nated by primary goods;  
ii. A higher trade deficit;  
iii. Insignificant manufacturing value added exports.  
 
4.156.   According to the UNIDO Report 2016, most African countries are experiencing a premature 
deindustrialization (i.e. decreasing manufacturing outputs and decreasing manufacturing jobs). A 
small share of manufacturing value added in GDP, such as that of The Gambia (5 -6%), which is 
common to many African countries, is detrimental to the future sustainable development of the 
continent; because manufacturing ha s a huge potential for technological change than any other 
sector. We therefore fully support The Gambia, and indeed all African countries to pursue industrial 
development in line with the 2063 Agenda, the Africa we want. Industrial development will help 
rebalancing the overall economic structure; create needed massive jobs and lay a solid foundation 
for technological catch -up and structural transformation. Such a transformative agenda shall 
contribute to effective integration of the Gambia into the ECOWAS and the world economy. We 
urge all donors (bilateral and multilateral donors) to continue and increase their support to the 
Gambia in order to realize these noble goals.  
4.157.   I take this opportunity to wish the delegation of The Gambia a very successful Trade P olicy 
Review.  
SIERRA  LEONE  
4.158.   Sierra Leone aligns itself with the statements of the LDC and African Groups.  
4.159.   Sierra Leone has a number of things in common with Gambia. We both are classified as 
Least developed countries and are members of the Economic Communit y of West African States. 
Our historical links is reflected in prevalence of the Sierra Leone lingua franca in the Gambia.  
4.160.   Sierra Leone would like to congratulate the new Gambian Government for the impressive 
steps it has taken in the past year to bring Ga mbia "back to the fold". In this connection, Sierra 
Leone notes the Government of the Gambia has embarked on a comprehensive economic reform 
to re-integrate itself into the global economy by improving its business environment to promote 
and facilitate trad e and investment. The Government recently adopted a new National 
Entrepreneurship Policy to support the development of MSMEs which constitute more than 70% of 
the economic operators and contribute more than 60% of employment in the economy. Gambia 
also con cluded a comprehensive Investment Policy Review with the support of UNCTAD.  
4.161.   It is gratifying to note that the Gambia is committed to advancing gender equality and 
youth and women empowerment as well as creating a policy environment to unleash their 
potenti al. In this connection, Sierra Leone notes that Gambia is a signatory to the Gender and 
Trade Declaration which was launched by the Geneva Gender Champions in the margins of MC11.  
4.162.   The Gambia has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement and, as stated by t he honourable 
Minister at MC11, remains committed to the multilateral trading system as the best option to 
foster global trade.  
4.163.   Inter-regional trade is important to achieve economic integration. It was for this purpose 
that the 15 Member States of the Econ omic Community of the West African States on 25 October 
2013 adopted the five -band ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET). It is pertinent to note that, as 
a member of ECOWAS, Gambia has adopted the five -CET since 1 January 2017.  
4.164.   In conclusion, while noting t hat the Gambia has benefited from funding from the Enhanced 
Integrated Framework (EIF), Sierra Leone calls on developed countries and developing countries, 
in a position to do so to extend greater aid for trade assistance to the Gambia, including in 
facilitating the access of women to resources to enable them to increase their contribution and 
impact to Gambia's development.  
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  5  REPLIES BY THE REPRE SENTATIVE OF THE GAM BIA AND ADDITIONAL C OMMENTS  
5.1.  I wish to thank WTO Members for their valued observations and wo rds of encouragement on 
The Gambia's trade policy environment and the reforms that have been undertaken since the last 
trade policy review. Let me assure you of the new Government's commitment to the multilateral 
trading system and our conviction to reinte grate The Gambia into the international community. As 
a Government, we believe strongly in multilateralism as it provides transparent and predictable 
trading system that works for all.  
5.2.  We have provided written answers to all the advance questions and foll ow-up questions 
received. We also appreciate the comments by Members on the need for The Gambia to do more 
in promoting productive capacity development, improving the business environment and 
infrastructural development to increase foreign direct investmen t in the economy as well as to take 
to advantage of opportunities offered by the regional integration. I also want to thank and 
appreciate the views of H.E. Ambassador Daniel Blockert for critically looking at the trade policies 
and the development environ ment of The Gambia and highlighting areas where we need to work 
on to support The Gambia's trade development. He clearly highlighted areas where we need 
improvement and also provided questions in areas that are critical to our development.  
5.3.  In response, le t me assure you that the new Government is working closely with partners to 
quickly stabilize the economy, and the current economic outlook is really promising. We are aware 
of the high debt burden we inherited, and the Government is doing everything possi ble to address 
it head -on. The Government has introduced tight fiscal discipline to control expenditure. The 
Government is also working with development partners to formulate a debt sustainability strategy 
to deal with the debt burden on a sustainable basi s.  
5.4.  In the short -term, the new Government is also implementing reforms to significantly reduce 
domestic borrowing by ensuring that the Government expenditure is limited within the budget. In 
the medium -term, the Government reforms include streamlining the civil service to enhance 
performance; restructuring of the public enterprises and agencies, and improve macroeconomic 
performance.  
5.5.  With regard to the state -owned enterprises, current efforts are focused on limiting contingent 
liabilities and promoting enh anced transparency and improve the financial viability of these 
enterprises. To restore confidence in the state -owned enterprises, the Government has already 
completed special audits of five major public enterprises to address leakages, which would go a 
long way in improving their financial situation. This exercise, which is being supported by the 
World Bank, is continuing in other public enterprises to enable the Government to carry out a 
comprehensive reform of the public enterprises to put them on a soun d footing. The audits of the 
five major state -owned enterprises, including the Central Bank, that were most affected provide a 
solid basis for a resolution of cross arrears between the Government and the state -owned 
enterprises. In addition, the Government  has put in place a mechanism to strengthen oversight 
functions of these enterprises as well as working on to introduce a State Owned Enterprise Reform 
Action Plan.  
5.6.  The proposed three -year State Owned Enterprise Reform Action Plan would improve 
performance  and enhance their contributions to national development in the form of increased 
contribution to tax revenue, dividend payments, job creation and efficient service delivery.  
5.7.  On regional integration issues, the implementation of the ECOWAS CET led to signi ficant 
changes in the tariff structure of The Gambia. Even though The Gambia has limited binding 
coverage with high average bound rate as alluded to by some Members, the implementation of the 
CET has significantly enhanced the predictability of the tariff not only for The Gambia but ECOWAS 
as a whole given that no single ECOWAS member States can unilaterally change any tariff under 
the CET. This helps in enhancing certainty, predictability and transparency of the tariff for 
businesses. In addition, its impl ementation strengthens our participation in regional integration, 
which is also positive in our effort to deepen the regional integration agenda particularly towards 
the creation of a customs union. As a small economy, enlarge market enable us to enjoy 
economies scale and thus attract investment in the economy.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  5.8.  However, the implementation of the CET is posing some challenges in the economy in areas 
of revenue, price hike in some social goods such as rice, cooking oil, flour, cement and few others 
whose tar iffs were much lower than the CET rate. Although 3% exclusion list could address these 
challenges, this is only applicable in the short run. We therefore call on development partners to 
support The Gambia and other ECOWAS member States to deal with the cha llenges of CET 
implementation by carrying out the necessary economic reforms.  
5.9.  To facilitate Trade within the region, The Gambia is also participating in the harmonization of 
ECOWAS Standards within the region as one of the objectives of the Regional Quali ty Policy. As 
part of efforts to improve the business environment, the Government is undertaking a tax reform 
and improvement in energy sector to reduce the cost of doing business and enable enterprises to 
effectively utilize the ECOWAS trade liberalizatio n scheme.  
5.10.   In addition, we are also working to strengthen our bilateral relationship with the 
neighbouring countries to facilitate the implementation of the ECOWAS protocols and programme 
particularly the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme, Inter -State Roa d Transit and the protocol 
on free movement of people.  
5.11.   On the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and West Africa, The 
Gambia has started the process of signing the EPA. A Cabinet paper will be tabled in the next 
Cabinet meeting.  
5.12.   The new Government attaches great importance to investment promotion and private sector 
participation in the economy particularly in the productive sectors. To demonstrate commitment to 
these ideals, the Government has commenced the implementation of tax refo rms to improve the 
business environment. An investment policy review has been conducted by UNCTAD in 2017 and 
the Government is committed to the fully implementation of the recommendations. An Action Plan 
is already developed and the Government is now seek ing assistance from development partners in 
the implementation plan. We look forward to work with UNCTAD on this and other development 
partners.  
5.13.   Improvement in the supply of electricity is also among the priorities of the Government. 
This has culminated in to the development of an energy sector road map to improve efficiency in 
the supply of energy and enhance the participation of private sector investment in the energy 
sector.  
5.14.   To increase private sector confidence in the economy by providing them the necess ary to 
participate in the decision making, the Government, in consultation with the private sector, has 
created high level political platform called National Business Council, constituting of major business 
executives, including the Gambia Chamber of Comme rce and Industry to be chaired by the 
Minister of Trade. The Cabinet already endorsed the body created and my Ministry which led the 
initiative is now working on the inauguration of the Council to commence its work maybe next 
week.  
5.15.   On the notification req uirements, The Gambia is committed to meeting all its notification 
obligations under the various WTO Agreements. It is for this reason that we established a National 
Notification committee in 2013 to work on the back logs of The Gambia's notifications. I a m happy 
to say that we have made progress in this area as indicated in the Secretariat's report. My 
Ministry, through the notification committee, will continue to work with the relevant sectors to 
ensure that the notification requirements are fully met. We  have had some challenges in the timely 
preparation of some of the notification relating to quantitative restrictions and did request the WTO 
Secretariat to assist in developing capacity in this area. We look forward to working with the 
Secretariat in thes e areas. In addition, let me also assure you that all WTO Members will be given 
the opportunity to make comments on our draft trade related technical regulations before they are 
finalized as required by the TBT and SPS agreements. In this regard, the draft  regulation on 
labelling of pre -packaged food will be notified for comments once its review by the National 
Technical Regulation Committee is completed.  
5.16.   The Gambia also continues to strengthen its intellectual property laws. We take note of the 
interest of  some Members for The Gambia to join other WIPO treaties. In this regard, The Gambia 
has started consultations with WIPO on WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performance and WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  Phonograph Treaty. We are also drafting our intellectual property policy with the  support of WIPO 
and the final recommendations for joining these additional WIPO treaties is expected when the 
intellectual property policy is finalized by end February 2018.  
5.17.   With regards to the TRIPS agreement, The Gambia is committed to the ratification of the 
Protocol amending the TRIPS agreement. My Ministry has started the initial consultation with the 
relevant sectors at the national level for the ratification of the Agreement. It is hoped that we will 
be able to complete these consultations and have the protocol ratified before the end of 2018.  
5.18.   Let me also thank Members for acknowledging The Gambia's ratification of the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement. The Gambia attaches great importance to the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
and its effective implementati on will no doubt reduce cost of trading in The Gambia. As I have said 
during our first session, The Gambia has submitted the notifications of its Category A, B and C 
commitment under the Trade Facilitation Agreement on 23 January 2018. We look forward to 
working closely with development partners to ensure that the required capacities are developed to 
support full and effective implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.  
5.19.   Finally, I want to thank the WTO Members and the Enhanced Integrated Framework f or 
supporting The Gambia since the last Trade Policy Review. The Government of The Gambia will 
continue to honour its commitment to the multilateral trading system and where it lacks capacity it 
will continue to seek the support of WTO Members and developm ent partners to strengthen it. The 
Gambia also continues to seek assistance from development partners to address its supply side 
constraints, particularly through the Aid -for-Trade Initiative, to enhance its development efforts 
towards poverty reductions. Our country's trade needs are well articulated in the New National 
Development Plan which will soon be presented to our development partners as part of resource 
mobilization for its implementation. I encourage all of you to take time from your busy schedul e to 
participate in the event. We will inform you when the date and venue is agreed.  
5.20.   Thank you.  
DISCUSSANT  
5.21.   Thank you Chair for giving me the floor again today.  
5.22.   I spoke at length on Tuesday so I will only make a few quick comments today.  
5.23.   First of all, I wan t to thank Dr Isatou Touray, the Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional 
Integration and Employment, and her delegation for your commitment during this TPR and the 
very substantial work that you have put in. Many of the questions that were asked the day befo re 
yesterday have been answered and I think that all Member States that have participated in this 
TPR have learned a lot about the state of The Gambian economy, its trade regime and the 
Government's ambitions for the future.  
5.24.   Many issues have been raised an d I do not intend to be exhaustive in my final remarks, but 
I would like to highlight a few things that I will take away from this TPR.  
 Many Members have recognized the challenges The Gambian Government faces. Some of 
them are fairly common for many LDCs a round the world. Others are more specific for The 
Gambia and usually related to the economic policies of the previous Government.  
 Among the challenges that were highlighted were badly needed reforms of state owned 
enterprises, boosting the private sector, improving the ease of doing business and 
combatting corruption, reviewing the tax system, the need for investments in the energy 
sector, the importance of having modern laws in place in areas like IPR and procurement, 
and measures to increase productivity in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. And as we 
heard from the Minister in her introduction today, these are issues that the Government is 
working on.  
 Many Members have also commended The Gambia for maintaining a relatively open trade 
and investment re gime. With limited exceptions the country is open to investments and 
imposes relatively few barriers to imports.  WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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   Another issue that caught the attention of Members was the introduction of the ECOWAS 
CET. This process is likely to be complicated initially b ut there is great potential in increased 
regional integration and larger trade flows with neighbouring countries.  
 Many Members highlighted the fact that The Gambia has ratified the TFA and welcomed that 
the remaining notifications seem to be in the pipeli ne. I can just join others in encouraging 
The Gambia to take advantage of the substantial benefits that the TFA can bring.  
 As a member of the Geneva Gender Champions and representing a Government that prides 
itself of being feminist, it is encouraging to see how The Gambia is highlighting the role of 
women in trade and economic activity. After all one of the few things that basically all 
economists around the world would agree on is that the economic empowerment of women 
is always sound economic policy.  
5.25.   In conclusion, I hope that this TPR has been helpful for The Gambia and for the future work 
that you are going to do. If so then this TPR has been worthwhile.  
5.26.   A personal reflection: after going through the reports and reading up on the economic and 
political  situation in The Gambia, I think that it's clear that what this nation needs now more than 
anything else is stability.  
5.27.   The new Government seems to have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. I think 
that most, if not all, of the Members that have c ommented on the Gambian TPR, would subscribe 
to the general priorities laid out by this Government. But ambitious reforms require political, 
financial, and economic stability.  
5.28.   Since The Gambia is a coastal State, I will conclude by using an old sailor's gr eeting, and 
wish that Dr. Touray and her delegation will have fair weather and smooth sailing.  
5.29.   Thank you.  
EUROPEAN  UNION  
5.30.   Let me first express our sincere appreciation to the delegation of The Gambia for the timely 
replies they have provided to the advance  written questions submitted by the EU.  
5.31.   As acknowledged by several Members on Tuesday, despite the considerable infrastructural 
challenges, difficult business climate and the need for more economic diversification, The Gambia 
shows strong commitment to be considered as a credible trade partner within ECOWAS and the 
WTO.  
5.32.   With reference to the notification submitted by The Gambia of its Category A, B and C 
commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement, the EU would like to recognize the interest 
and the effort to follow up this matter.  
5.33.   After a preliminary look at the notification, the EU would like to ask The Gambia whether 
they could give more information on how they think to implement the Category B measures that 
are, according to the notification, indi catively scheduled for next month.  
5.34.   The EU also takes note of the provisions notified as Category C for which The Gambia is 
seeking assistance and technical support.  
5.35.   In conclusion, on behalf of the EU, let me again express our appreciation to the delegation  
of The Gambia for their presence here, their participation in this important exercise and for the 
contributions presented during this third Trade Policy Review of The Gambia.  
UNITED  STATES  
5.36.   The United States would like to sincerely thank the entire delegat ion of The Gambia for 
answers to our previously submitted written questions and for the extremely prompt answers to WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  our follow -up questions which we received this morning. My authorities in Washington look forward 
to studying everything.  
5.37.   We also very much appreciated the very thoughtful and constructive work that went into 
both of the answers and the overall preparation by everyone, including the very professional 
Secretariat for this Trade Policy Review.  
5.38.   We also would like to express our special regard to the Honourable Dr. Touray for her 
statement this morning and Ambassador Blockert for his detailed intellectual angle as our 
discussant.  
5.39.   The United States very much appreciates its bilateral relationship with The Gambia and as 
mentioned on Day 1 of this rev iew, my Government is very pleased to have restored eligibility for 
preferential tariff treatment under the African Growth and Opportunity Act at the beginning of this 
year following democratic elections.  
5.40.   We followed with very great interest news of econom ic growth, reforms and challenges 
faced and how the new Government is dealing with those challenges. We applaud the efforts to 
improve the business environment, reduce corruption and reduce inefficiencies.  
5.41.   In addition, we encourage The Gambia to continue i mproving infrastructure, developing the 
workforce, diversifying exports and thoughtfully building an attractive situation for increase foreign 
investment in tourism.  
5.42.   The United States is very enthusiastic about a number of cooperative projects and 
partners hips to develop trade, health, security and prosperity.  
5.43.   As the United States attaches great importance to notifications, we very much appreciate 
the commitment to notifications expressed in this Trade Policy Review.  
5.44.   We look forward to continued active and  deeper cooperation with the delegation of The 
Gambia here in Geneva and elsewhere and we are very sure that this Trade Policy Review has 
been a valuable exercise. Please accept our best regards and our wishes for safe travels to 
everyone returning to capi tal. 
H.E.  DR. ISATOU  TOURAY  (HEAD  OF DELEGATION)  
5.45.   Thank you very much. I am very appreciative of the efforts that have been put into this TPR 
regarding The Gambia. On behalf of my delegation, on behalf of His Excellency, the President 
Adama Barrow, and of the entire people of The Gambia, I want to express appreciation to all of 
you who have, in one way or another, taken a front seat in supporting The Gambia or a backseat 
in other ways to encourage us to move forward. And I want to take this opportunity to s ay that we 
are open, ready and available for any constructive engagement of any international support or 
bilateral relationships with regard to moving The Gambia forward. I want to just assure you that 
we are now sharing a democracy, a democracy that we wa nt the whole world to see as a best 
practice having emerged from an authoritarian regime for 22 years which resulted in the flight of 
Gambia's intellectual capital, Gambia's young people. And now we want to reverse all those 
negative trends and we will be doing everything that we can to show that we can do it and that we 
can only do it when we work together as a community of nations to move a country that is ready 
to change the situation that it has inherited from an authoritarian regime. Thank you all for 
everything that has been done here.  
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  6  CONCLUDING REMARKS B Y THE CHAIRPERSON  
6.1.  This third Trade Policy Review has offered us an excellent opportunity to deepen our 
understanding of recent developments in The Gambia, and the achievements and challenges 
related  to its trade and investment policies. Also, as was highlighted by several delegations during 
the review, this exercise has come at an important juncture for The Gambia, after having 
experienced a historical democratic change in government last year.  
6.2.  I would like to thank the Gambian delegation, headed by H.E. Dr. Isatou Touray, for the clear 
and thorough policy statement, and our discussant H.E. Mr. Daniel Blockert (Permanent 
Representative of Sweden) for his detailed and thoughtful analysis and assessmen ts. I would also 
like to acknowledge the numerous comments and advance questions from the 19 delegations that 
took the floor during our deliberations.  
6.3.  Members noted that the Gambian economy continued to face challenges, but there were 
encouraging signs tha t it was stabilizing and that higher growth might take place. Some of the 
main problems referred to by delegations were high fiscal deficits, the growing public debt, and 
financially distressed state -owned enterprises. Also, it was considered that high gov ernment 
borrowing combined with tight monetary policy had resulted in high interest rates crowding out 
private sector development. However, as noted by the Gambian delegation, fiscal consolidation in 
2017 had already slowed the growth of debt accumulation and has significantly brought down 
interest rates. The delegation also added that while real GDP growth averaged 2.9% in the period 
2010-16, growth was forecast to reach 3% in 2017.  
6.4.  Members commended The Gambia for maintaining an open trade and investment  regime and 
welcomed the new government's trade policy outlined by the Gambian delegation during the TPR; 
its main thrust being building trade capacity, improving competitiveness and promoting private 
sector development. The business environment is to be f urther reformed, and some taxes have 
already been reduced. The corporate income tax rate was cut from 30% to 27% in January 2018. 
Agriculture and fisheries, industry, transport and energy are seen as critical for development. The 
delegation also highlighte d the importance of empowering women in the Gambian economy, which 
was welcomed by a number of delegations.  
6.5.  Members praised The Gambia for a range of reforms undertaken since the last Review. The 
country has adopted the five -band ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) from 1 January 2017. 
The average CET (MFN) rate is 12.3%, down from an average rate of 14.1% of th e previous 
customs tariff. None of the CET rates exceeds The Gambia's tariff bindings. However, it was noted 
that there was a large gap between the country's average bound rate and average applied rates, 
and only 15% of the tariff lines were bound, renderi ng the tariff regime less predictable, although 
in practice the ECOWAS CET regime has reduced the country's discretion in setting tariff rates.  
6.6.  Members also welcomed that The Gambia had modernized its food safety, TBT, industrial 
property and government p rocurement regimes. Reference was also made to the opportunities 
arising from tourism and logistics. The Gambia was invited to consider acceding to the WTO 
Agreement on Government Procurement and several WIPO treaties, and was encouraged to 
deposit its ins trument of acceptance of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement. The Minister 
today has shared with us that they have already started consultations with WIPO in acceding to 
several of the treaties mentioned.  
6.7.  Some Members felt that there was room for imp rovement of the business environment, 
notably by facilitating access to financing, labour market reforms, and increasing effort in 
enhancing good governance. In their advance questions, some Members sought further 
clarification with regard to the investmen t regime, notably with regard to taxation, environmental 
impact assessment, and remaining restrictions on FDI.  
6.8.  The Gambian delegation reiterated its commitment to the multilateral trading system and 
announced, during the TPR meeting, that it had decided to  open a trade Mission in Geneva. The 
delegation also informed Members that all draft trade -related legislation and regulations were 
reviewed by a National Technical Regulation Committee to ensure consistency with WTO 
agreements. In this respect, The Gambia  was invited to ensure WTO Members had an opportunity 
to comment on draft regulations affecting trade. Members welcomed that The Gambia's instrument WT/TPR/W/143  • The Gambia  
 
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  of acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) was deposited in July 2017 and were 
encouraged by t he announcement that its TFA notifications were submitted to the WTO in the 
course of this TPR. It was noted that these notifications would allow donors to identify the needs 
for assistance. Overall, it was observed that The Gambia had a good track record in notifications, 
although some notifications were still outstanding.  
6.9.  The Gambia has provided replies to all of the questions raised by Members. As noted by 
several Members during the exercise, there is a window of opportunity to expand aid for trade and 
other development aid to achieve The Gambia's goals to increase its participation in the 
multilateral trading system and to achieve higher and inclusive growth. The Gambia's own efforts 
through initiatives such as development plans were considered importan t to mobilize this 
assistance. I wish to thank again the Gambian delegation for their commitment to this exercise 
and to all delegations that participated for their constructive feedback.  
__________