With few major natural resources (unless oil exploration eventually yields some results) and a small domestic market, the authorities would be well advised to pursue reforms that would improve the country's competitiveness in external trade. With The Gambia being well positioned on the edge of West Africa for global trade, and a crucial import-export hub for Senegal, re-export trade is extremely important to the economy; at end-2008 re-exports accounted for 86% of export earnings. However, regional tax harmonisation, along with improvements in the port operations of other West African countries in recent years, has reduced The Gambia's advantages. In response, the president announced plans in his state of the nation address in mid-2010 to create an investment and export promotion agency and to modernise customs procedures (July 2010, Economic policy). The country's fall in the World Bank rankings has highlighted the urgency of these plans; in an increasingly globalised and competitive world The Gambia needs to run just to stand still.