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Wednesday, January 31, 2007 – Prime Minister the Right Honourable Sir
John Compton has called on the present generation to build on the
accomplishments of the founding fathers of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States. In his first address to the OECS Authority since being re-elected into
office, Sir John reminisce on his involvement in the creation of the 25 year old
organisation.
The OECS Authority held its first International Development Conference at the
Bay Gardens Hotel this week, to get to the root of the various forces which
shape the prospects for its development, including those related to small size
and vulnerability.
The exercise, which also examined how these prospects can be transformed to
resilience, brought together representatives of major international and regional
institutions, under the theme “Vision 2015: Shaping the Future of the OECS New
Development Paradigm in the Context of Small Island Developing States”.
“Your agenda shows that you are fully aware of the challenges if we are not only
to survive, but to build a foundation on which our people can progress and
prosper and not merely a platform on which few can grow rich and and the
majority are mired in poverty,” Sir John told the gathering.
Participants were expected to analyse the experience of other small states such
as Malta, Iceland, Ireland and Singapore, to identify ways in which they
overcame constraints related to “islandness” and size, and what lessons can be
applied to the OECS as a group.
Chairman of the OECS, Antigua's Prime Minister Honourable Baldwin Spencer,
thinks this goal is even more significant, as the sub-region moves ever closer
to an Economic Union.
“The OECS Economic Union is not an experiment. It is the logical next step in
the continuum of proactive solutions that the smallest member states of the
English speaking Caribbean grouping have been forced to engineer our collective
bid to survive the harsh realities of a hostile globalising world economy,” the
Antiguan Prime Minister said.
The conference which ended Tuesday January 30, also sought to determine the long
term vision for the OECS and identify the resources and investment needs that
must be put in place. It also searched for the OECS competitive edge and
identified the type of activities which must take place and be coordinated at
the regional level.
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