Monrovia, (Thursday, October 27, 2016) – On Friday, November 4th at 9:00AM* at the Boulevard Palace Hotel on Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor, the Minister of Commerce and Industry Axel M. Addy, as Chair of the 8th West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) Trade Ministers’ Forum, will host his colleagues and other officials of the Central Banks, and Ministries of Finance to Liberia. The Ministers’ Forum will be preceded by a *Technical Committee Meeting (November 2-3, 2016),* which will form the basis of the Ministers’ Meeting. The theme for the Forum is *“Opportunities for Development Through Regional Trade Integration.”

The Forum is an annual event convened by the West Africa Monetary Institute (WAMI) and hosted by the Member States of the WAMZ on a rotation basis. The first edition was hosted by The Gambia in 2008, second by Ghana in 2009, third by Nigeria in 2010, fourth by Sierra Leone in 2011, fifth by Ghana, in 2012, sixth by Guinea, in 2013, seventh by Gambia, in 2015, and the eighth Forum will be hosted by Liberia in 2016.

The 8th WAMZ Trade Ministers’ Forum was constituted during the WAMZ Convergence Council of Ministers and Governors of the Central Banks at the 17th Meeting in Banjul, The Gambia on May 6, 2005 as a means of expanding the work programme for the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) to include trade integration and regional development. The inclusion of trade integration was borne out of the recognition by WAMZ Authorities, the importance of effective trade integration for economic and monetary integration. The Authorities therefore mandated WAMI to promote intra-WAMZ and regional trade. To this end, the WAMZ Trade Ministers’ Forum was consummated in 2008, to provide the impetus required to promote intra-WAMZ and regional trade.

The Forum not only provides opportunity to share country experiences on cross-border trade issues, but also offers a high level platform that peer reviews Member States’ status of implementation of ECOWAS trade integration commitments with a view to achieving WAMZ trade integration goals.

Head of Delegation Information Form

The Boulevard Palace Hotel

FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Ms. Anna Scott, Chief of Staff - aascott@moci.gov.lr

Amb. Jervis Witherspoon, Chief of Protocol - chiefofprotocol.rl@gmail.com

Mr. Lamin Jarju, Economist WAMI - lamin7jarju@gmail.com