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The Gambian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Mamadou Tangara, on Monday 6th March 2023 delivered a statement at the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5 ) in Doha, Qatar.
The Honorable Minister on  behalf of The Gambian Delegation, expressed his sincere gratitude to his Highness, the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Government and brotherly people of Qatar for the warm hospitality accorded to him and his entire delegation.
 
Qatar is renowned for its friendly disposition and hospitality,and it is one of the  genuine partners and an all-weather friend of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including The Gambia. With the successful hosting of the World Cup and this Conference, Qatar continues to demonstrate the potentials of small states and what they can achieve when they do not lower their ambitions. “There are serious lessons to be learnt from your example as we embark on the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action (DPOA)”said the minister.
 
The Honorable Minister also extended his gratitude to the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island eveloping States (UN-OHRLLS) for organising this forum and for being strong advocates for LDCs at the UN. Their efforts in supporting LDCs in mobilizing resources, guiding and monitoring the implementation of their programmes of action especially in the establishment of the LDC Technology Bank and the Investment Support Programme for LDCs, just to name a few, are sincerely appreciated.
 
He further recognized and thanked the United Nations Country Team, who has been a true partner of The Gambia through offering their unflinching support towards meeting the national development objectives and for their good collaboration through the Resident Coordinators’ Office. Together with them, The Gambian government will travel the journey of implementation of the DPOA at the national level.
 
He also shows solidarity and prays for the Governments and peoples of Turkiye and Syria during these difficult and trying times.
 
During the implementation of the IPOA,The Gambia registered successes and improvements in areas such as energy access, infrastructure development, tourism development, science and technology development and innovation.
 
Furthermore, Dr Mamadou continued to explain the emergence from the shackles of poor governance in 2016 a number of policies has been put in place resulting in significant progresses in democratic governance, respect for the rule of law, respect for human rights and economic prosperity hence, putting the country on course to rebuilding and regaining its rightful place in the comity of nations. 
 
Mr Tanagara said despite the above successes, The Gambia like other LDCs equally continues to face significant development challenges, such as the impacts of COVID-19, effects of the war in Europe, low productive capacities, high debt burden, limited access to regional and international markets, limited structural transformation, low value addition, inability to attract Foreign Direct Investment, limited private sector development, high energy cost, challenges of achieving food self-sufficiency, climate change vulnerability and exposure to external shocks.
 
Therefore, with the identification of the above challenges, the main priority for The Gambia to endeavor the implementation of the DPOA would be the adoption of policies and initiatives to confront and overcome the mentioned challenges to enable the actualization on our growth and development potential, said the minister.
 
In line with the Minister ‘s speech, The Gambia is about to launch a new development plan – The Green Focused National Development Plan 2023-2027 with the intention to move from potential to prosperity as encapsulated in the theme for this conference which provided deep meaning for The Gambia and other LDCs.
 
A core pillar of this new plan is a private sector development taking into account competitive advantages for the government such as being part of The Dakar- Praia corridor as a hub for Special Economic Zones, Agropols and Industrial Parks along the Trans-Gambia, a free port, proximity to the African and EU Markets, and our leverage on regional economic arrangements such as the ECOWAS Free Trade and Free Movement Protocols, and the AFCFTA. We are hopeful that, the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action will complement efforts of the government in achieving  national development goals.
 
He further highlighted some of the most attractive policies that are needed to promote tangible national and international trade investments, but he worried that challenges such as non-tariff barriers to trade that affect other LDCs continue to have a negative impact on the trade and growth potential, With the Doha Programme of Action,  hopeful that most of these challenges will be mitigated as they are committed to addressing them.
 
“While we have very attractive investment policies to attract Foreign Direct Investment into The Gambia, the need to mobilize development assistance from partners, especially, non-traditional partners to address structural weaknesses within our productive and emerging sectors remains crucial.
 
Agro-processing, industrialization along the agriculture value chain, Tourism, Health and Education are all potential springboards for The Gambia’s economic transformation and diversification. Yet, if we are not able to adapt to climate change, such potential may not be realised.”