By Yunus S Saliu
Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MoTC) on Wednesday hosted the Mayor of North Miami and Miami-Dade County officials with their representatives on a business round-table meeting and networking at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Center, Bijilo.
Leading the Miami-Dade County officials with their representatives to the destination, Honorable Marleine Bastienof Miami-Dade County, District 2 stated that the Miami-Dade County government serves a population of more than 2.7 million people workforce of more than 30,000 employees dedicated to providing the best services possible.
She went on that Miami-Dade County is comprised of 34 municipalities while the City of Miami is the largest municipality, followed by Hialeah, Miami Gardens, Miami Beach, North Miami, and Coral Gables and each municipality has its own government and provides city services such as code enforcement, construction permitting and zoning protection.
In his remarks, Honorable Hamat NK Bah, Minister of Tourism and Culture said the country is proud to receive them to the destination Gambia while saying the Gambia and Miami have a lot of similarities in common even in terms of population, crime rate, and in terms of depending in tourism and agriculture, fisheries while the climate and “the people of the two countries almost look very much the same indeed.”
That been the case, he said, it is the reason the government of the Gambia encouraged the people of Miami-Dade County to explore the possibility of investing in The Gambia, “no investment can be small once it makes a difference even by employing one person.”
He noted that the incentives as presented are worth giving a trial and with the belief that the visitors would be ambassadors of the Gambia, The Smiling Coast of Africa to encourage people to invest in the country.
He noted that the Gambian women are one of the driving forces in moving the country forward and the country appreciates them.
However, When you come to visit our country, The Smiling Coast of Africa, Minister Bah said, which is number 5th most peaceful country in the Africa continent “that shows that it is a country for you to visit and safe for you to invest.”
And as a government “it is our responsibility to make the atmosphere extremely conducive for people to be able to invest, work and live. Though you might have a different experience in other countries but naturally when you come to the Gambia you can settle and become a citizen like in other places but citizenship has to go through legal processes in this country because we do not support automatic citizenship.”
On behalf of the government of the Gambia, Minister of Trade, the GIEPA, Gambia Tourism Board, MoTC and other government agencies, “you are welcomed to The Gambia and we thank you sincerely for visiting our country while hoping to see you again.”
The forum was well attended by different VIPs including Ministers, directors, CEOs, and tourism stakeholders, while different power point presentations about destination Gambia and investment opportunities for investors were presented by senior officials of the Gambia Tourism Board and GIEPA.
And on behalf of the Miami-Dade County, Debon Campbell, II, Intergovernmental Affairs Manager City of Miramar, Florida, and Paul Njoroge, MBA, City Manager, International Trade as well made PowerPoint presentations, as the occasion was shared by Honorable Konne L McGhee of Miami Dade County – District 9.