Officials of the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency (GEIPA) and Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) Tuesday conveneda one-day sensitisation forum on the GEIPA Act 2010 and the GIEPA Regulation 2012, at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

Speaking at the event, Fatou Mbenga- Jallow, chief executive officer of GIEPA said her institution and GRA, as the two leading institutions entrusted with the administration of incentives designed by the government in consultation with the private sector and other partners to promote and support investment and export of local product, deemed it necessary to organise the forum.

She explained that this is among a series of sensitization forums to create more awareness and understanding on the incentive, eligibility criteria, and across producers. “You could recall that the duty waiver process for GIPFZA - issued SICs was reengineered at the beginning of 2012. Currently GEIPA and GRA are committed to process waiver application with 72 hours,” she said.

According to her,based on the current investment code, import sales tax waivers are processed directly at GRA and import items approved for each project and the items accessed at each point in time will be jointly monitored by GEIPA and GRA.

Madeline Njie, the deputy permanent secretary, Ministry of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment, thanked the business representatives, saying their presence demonstrated their willingness to partner with the public sector institutions to develop a vibrant and strong collaboration.

According to DPS Njie, the GEIPA Act 2010 and then GEIPA regulation 2012 clearly spelt out the mandate of of the institution and the sectors that are deemed key for national development. “The type of incentives and support designed to encourage quality and productive investment in the country and the eligibility criteria is also clearly spelt out in the two documents,” she added.