A two-day training workshop on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in the context of World Trade Organisation (WTO) began yesterday at the Corinthia Atlantic Hotel, Banjul.

Organised by the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment in collaboration with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and funded by the Hub and Spokes Capacity Building Project, the training is one of three training The Gambia as an LDC enjoys from  the WTO each year, under its Technical Cooperation Programme. The training is aimed at building the capacity of officials and policy makers on trade agreements and also enhancing their skills on trade negotiations.

Declaring the training opened, Sohna  Sowe, the deputy permanent secretary, Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment on behalf of the government of The Gambia, thanked the WTO for their support. According to her, the training is timely given the fact that the EPAs are now being negotiated. She said ECOWAS is currently negotiating EPAs with the EU to ensure that the EPAs are aligned with West Africa's regional integration process.

According to DPS Sowe, the training will help them to be more aware of the reality in terms of promoting trade either at the bilateral or multilateral levels. "This training is necessary and timely, given its importance in facilitating trade," she said. She added that "the definition of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) under the WTO includes actions by governments to facilitate trade through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or Customs Union (CUs). Therefore, RTAs could be termed as a set of agreements binding states or customs territories which strongly favour increased free trade through multilaterism.

States and territories enter into RTAs for strategic, development, cultural, political and economic gains. Despite the current uncertainty over the state of multilateral trade negotiations (the current Doha Round), RTAs are no longer confined by geographic region but extend across the globe, such as the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and ACP countries."

She then observed that in the sub-region, most trade within ECOWAS is already tariff-free adding that free movement of goods and reduction of custom duties amongst others are being implemented. According to her, in 1980, the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government Summit reached a decision to established a Free Trade Area (FTA) for agricultural products and a common traveller's cheque entered into circulation, a genuine benefit for inter-regional trade promotion and a major step towards the attainment of regional cooperation.

Despite the ECOWAS objective to ensure meaningful regional economic integration among members states, she said there are still factors that are causes for concern, such as economic performance, level of earnings in member states and political will. She then observed that the rules and methods of operation of the RTAs that bind countries need to be known by all stakeholders noting that though the challenges are numerous, with concentrated efforts, the trading environment of the sub-region can be greatly improved.

For her part, Joan Apecu, economic affairs officer, council and trade negotiations committee division at the World Trade Organisation on behalf of the WTO secretariat, paid tribute to the government of The Gambia for hosting the seminar. According to her, the WTO welcomes such opportunities.
According to her, the world economy faces an unprecedented global economic crisis triggered by financial crises in some major developed countries. "The global and financial crises have created a recession in the global economy with resultant trade effects. This also poses challenges for all WTO members but it does also present a moment of opportunity for international cooperation," she said.

She then quoted the WTO director general as saying that "an urgent conclusion of the Doha Round of trade negotiations is an indispensable contribution which will be only part of the solution in mitigating the global economic and financial crisis and providing a framework for economic recovery and growth". She also informed stakeholders that the WTO boss has also initiated a surveillance and monitoring process of trade measures taken by member states in the wake of the global economic and financial crises and all members agreed that this work should continue.