N.P.A., Georgia Port hold roundtable

The National Port Authority of Liberia in partnership with the Georgia Port Authority has held a one-day roundtable in Monrovia. Speaking on Monday, 12 December in Monrovia the Managing Director of the N.P.A. Mr. David Williams said, the goal is to increase trade between Liberia and the United State of America.

He said based on deliberation, the N.P.A. is contemplating on building an inland port, and Georgia Port Authority has an inland port, which provides an unique opportunity to learn from them.
Mr. Williams said an inland port is a dry port, and that the N.P.A. is working with the Ministry of Public Works and other entities to enable traders to move their goods from country to country by road to have access to various commodities.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Liberia to the State of Georgia, Madam Cynthia L. Blandford said, they are interested in finding a solution to the N.P.A., adding that there are containers leaving Liberia for Georgia Port in the United States, including logs and so they are concerned and want to know who’s putting in for them from here.
She George Port Authority is in Liberia for a roundtable on how to increase trade between America and Liberia, disclosing that under her leadership in 2010 the G.P.A. and the N.P.A. signed the first African sister-port agreement.
The agreement between the two ports was established as an alliance of cooperation for information sharing and technical cooperation. The original MOU was signed between 2010 and 2012, and was extended for additional three years following a visit by a delegation from the N.P.A. to the Port of Savannah in September 2015.
The Port of Savannah is the highest volume exporter to Liberia among America’s South Atlantic ports and the highest in imports from Liberia.
Madam Blandford said while imports from Georgia to Liberia continues to grow, trade from the latter to the former is shrinking and many of the containers are returning to Georgia empty, but with the sister port relationship between the N.P.A. and the G.P.A. together they could help address some of the challenges.

By Bridgett Milton-Editing by Jonathan Browne