Excellency, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my honour and pleasure to welcome your Excellency for the signature of the Exchange of Notes of the Project for the Construction of Brikama Fish Market.

This grant of 630 million yen, about 126 million dalasi, is to finance the construction of a market hall with office space, a fish handling yard and a chilled room and cooler boxes in Brikama. Fish boxes for the fish storage and an ice making machine for the conservation of the products will be provided.

 A new water supply system will be installed to maintain the healthy hygienic environment. These facilities and equipment will ensure a better and more profitable distribution of the fish products of good quality by reducing the post-harvest losses at the fresh fish retail stage.

In fact, due to the special location of Brikama, key junction of transportation that links the coast and the inland, the demand of fish is increasing and Brikama market continues to expand. The project mainly aims to achieve the sales of fresh and good quality fish in a healthy environment by improving the conditions of fish retail markets in Brikama and its neigbouring area. It includes also a soft component with technical assistance by a training         programme to use facilities and equipment.

The fisheries is one of the key sectors of the Japanese cooperation in The Gambia. Since more than three decades, the Government of Japan has been making the  contribution to the fisheries development in your country, through various projects including the establishment of fishing    infrastructures and related equipment to   support fishing activities. The sustainable development and management of this important  sector offer prospects for social and economic development not only of the concerned regions but also throughout the land.

Like in Japan, fish is an important  protein resource for the people in The Gambia and is essential for the improvement of the nutritional standards of the population. Furthermore, the sector gives excellent opportunities of the employment. These are the reasons Japan has been concentrating its efforts on the promotion of the cooperation in this sector.

I am particularly happy to be able to sign this agreement today just a few weeks after the conclusion of the ticad iv, which was held in Japan. On this occasion, our Prime Minister announced a package of the new initiatives to reinforce our  cooperation for the development of Africa, including and in particular, doubling of our ODA to Africa by 5 years. The Brikama Fish Market Project will be remembered as the first project agreed between Japan and The Gambia after the TICAD IV.

And I hope that it will be a stepping-stone for the furtherance of already existing good relations between our two countries.