Gambia Hopes For Visit Of Russian Officials, Bilateral Presidential Visits - Ambassador

Sumaira FH Published October 23, 2018 | 03:09 PM

The Gambia hopes that senior Russian officials, in particular, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, will visit the country, and is especially looking forward to reciprocal presidential visits, Jainaba Bah, the Gambian ambassador to Russia, told Sputnik Tuesday on the sidelines of the Russian-African Social Forum.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2018) The Gambia hopes that senior Russian officials, in particular, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, will visit the country, and is especially looking forward to reciprocal presidential visits, Jainaba Bah, the Gambian ambassador to Russia, told Sputnik Tuesday on the sidelines of the Russian-African Social Forum.

"Our President [Adama Barrow] has expressed the eagerness to be able to meet [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin ... We are equally looking forward to have high-level Russian officials to travel to Banjul, including President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov ... We want them to come to the Gambia. The Gambia is a small country, but it would make a large impact and resonate with the whole African continent. People in Africa love President Putin and want to welcome him," Bah said.

The Gambian ambassador indicated that her country was interested in developing cooperation with Moscow, in particular, in the field of oil and gas exploration and to learn from Russia's experience in that field.

"From Gambia's side, I believe, this is where Russia can help � if we [could] send our young people to come and learn about oil drilling; what is involved in oil and gas exploration. From there, we can have a partnership, because Russia has the experience. This has to be worked on at a higher level," Bah said.

The relations between Russia and The Gambia, which were officially established in 1965, have been developing in various directions, for example, in trade, with Russia exporting food and grain to the African state. The two countries have also enjoyed cooperation in the field of education and plan to sign the memorandum of understanding in this field.