A three-day workshop on Inter-Institutional Trade Policy Decision-Making Committee Design, yesterday, kicked-off at the Jerma Beach Hotel in Kololi.

The workshop, which ends on Thursday, 23 April 2009, is organized by the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment in collaboration with the ECOWAS Trade Negotiation Capacity Building Project.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Douglas Zormelo, project coordinator of the Ecowas Trade Negotiation Capacity Building Project, recognized the important strides made by the government of The Gambia in creating an inter-departmental committee on trade policy. He added that in view of the current global economic outlook, the creation of an inter-institutional committee to held in the making of trade policies is vital.

Naffie Barry, the deputy permanent secretary at the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment said that The Gambia has made much gains in the design of an inter-institutional committee on trade. Present at the opening were officials from relevant government departments, and the private sector, such as the president of the Manufacturers Association, Muhammed Sillah of Sankung Sillah and Sons Enterprises.