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OECS & Puerto Rico to Sign Memorandum of Understanding


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Contact: John Emmanuel

Dr. Len Ishmael - Director General - OECS Secretariat
 

Dr. Len Ishmael
Director General - OECS Secretariat

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed later this week is expected to lay the ground work for closer collaboration between OECS countries and the Puerto Rican Government. Heads of Government of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will travel to Puerto Rico on Friday, January 30th 2004 for the signing, that will foster closer ties in the areas of trade and investment promotion, agriculture, tourism, health, education, the environment, justice and security.

The decision on Friday’s MOU signing came out of the just concluded 38th Meeting of the OECS Authority held here last week. The meeting explored the possibility of establishing an OECS desk in San Juan, financed by the Puerto Rican Government and staffed by the OECS. The MOU will help foster closer relations between the OECS and Puerto Rico primarily in the exchange of goods and services and the free movement of people.

Communications Officer with the St. Lucia based OECS Secretariat Raymond O’Keiffe says, “San Juan has been a regular port of call for many people from the OECS, most of them would have visited Puerto Rico for business reasons. They purchase goods and go back to their respective territories and sell them. This agreement is basically to foster that relationship.”

At last week’s meeting, sub-regional leaders also agreed to support current initiatives by the OECS Secretariat to strengthen co-operation between the sub-region and the French dependent territory of Guadeloupe. The two sides are already in negotiations for the development of an Eastern Caribbean label for the yachting sector based on the principle of shared space.

Also coming out of the 38th Authority meeting, was an agreement to create a new Treaty for the OECS, seen as being more relevant in dealing with moves towards an economic union of the sub-region. “There are several fundamental issues one has to consider in approaching the process of an OECS economic union. One of the main issues is that of governance and a special technical committee will be reactivated in one month to look at some of these issues. They include the broad political structure of the economic union, the broad principles of governance within the economic union, the institutional structure and arrangements of the union, the relationship between associate members; Anguilla, the BVI, etc and the status of dependency members like Montserrat within the context of the economic union,” said O’Keiffe.

The economic union process will continue to be driven by a Prime Ministerial sub-committee under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which also includes St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony and Chief Minister of Montserrat Honourable John Osborne.
 

 


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