A three-day national forum aimed at resuscitating the economy commences on Wednesday, September 4, at the newly-constructed Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, outside Monrovia.
It can be recalled that recently lawmakers during the Presidential-Legislative Retreat in Margibi County proposed a meeting with a mono-agenda of addressing the current economic challenges the country is faced with.
The National Economic Dialogue (NED), which is being organized by the National Economic Dialogue Secretariat under the theme: “National Economic Revival and Growth. Critical Issues, Challenges and Way Forward,” is expected to run from September 4-6.
The forum is been supported by the United Nation Development Program (UNDP); European Union (EU); United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The initiative is also intended to foster speedy recovery of the Liberian economy, which will ensure growth, peace and prosperity for the country.
Some senators, according to analysts who attended and followed the Farmington retreat, hold the belief that a future economic summit was an emergency, given the challenges the people are going through daily.
Though all this can be blamed on the country’s fragile the economy, the growing wave of inflation, prompting depreciation of the Liberian dollar; the low generation of foreign exchange which is further made complex by the sharp drop in prices of Liberia’s primary export commodities on the world market is another key factor.
Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe recently assured Liberians on a local radio talk show in Monrovia that the Government of Liberia will do everything possible to ensure the recalibration of the economy.
“The government is currently engaging people at various levels, including political leaders and civil society organizations, in order to constitute a national dialogue aimed at addressing the downward trend of the economy,” the official spokesperson of the Liberian Government noted during his interview.
“We have been trying to build general consensus for this national dialogue on the economy. There is a lot of work ongoing in the preparation of a national dialogue where all Liberians will come together, particularly those from the other side, who have ideas in reversing the trend of the economy,” Nagbe emphasized.
He stressed President George Weah’s position on sustaining the peace of Liberia, noting: “Every Liberian has vested interest, but they should assure that the peace and security of our country remain at the top of everyone’s agenda.”
Citizens remain confident that short, medium, and tong-term solutions can be found through depoliticized dialogue.
