3 envoys present letters of credence to President Barrow
Banjul,Gambia (PANA)- Three diplomats Tuesday presented their letters of credence to President Adama Barrow at the State House in Banjul, official sources told PANA.
They were Luc Jean Saint Vito Aka Evy of the Republic of Congo, Inacio Felina Rosa De Carvalho of Cape Verde, and Pham Quoc Tru of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
President Barrow and Ambassador Evy of Republic of Congo discussed potential areas of collaboration for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.
The president argued that African countries had enough experience to share among themselves to forge stronger partnerships.
He expressed his commitment to strengthening the cooperation in the areas of health, education, and economic sectors.
Ambassador Extraordinaire Evy told the press that The Gambia and Republic of Congo shared “a good, strong relationship”.
He expressed his commitment to making the relationship even more visible, adding that he would give priority to cultural, fisheries as well as educational cooperation between the two countries.
President Barrow told the Vietnamese ambassador that he welcomed potential collaboration and learning experience in the area of rice production taking into account the global successes of Vietnam in that area.
He also encouraged the private sector of the Southeast Asian nation to invest in the country, especially in the area of cashew production.
Ambassador Tru, on his part, said the two countries enjoyed a long tradition of an excellent relationship, committing to strengthening bilateral ties, particularly in areas of maritime, tourism, agriculture, education, health, among other sectors.
“We have great potentials to exploit between our two countries. In terms of cooperation, Vietnam and The Gambia’s ties have significantly developed. In 2017, the trade volume between the two countries rose to $24million,” he said, noting that The Gambia was one of the countries that had strong trade links with Vietnam.
President Barrow discussed with the Cape Verdean ambassador ways of strengthening the existing relations at both bilateral and multilateral levels, including ECOWAS.
He expressed admiration for the high level of political maturity and democracy that obtained in the country, citing the prestigious MO Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, which was awarded to the country’s former president.
He said the award served as a great lesson for other African leaders to continue to work for the interest of their people.
“There is no excuse for Africa…We have the necessary human resource base to build strong institutions,” he said while calling for experience sharing in the areas of tourism and other economic activities.
Ambassador Carvalho said the tourism sector could be a great opportunity of collaboration for the benefit of both countries, citing other sectors that could be exploited as basalt and sand resources.
-0- PANA MSS/RA 16Apr2019
