Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
June 20, 2010 (CUOPM)
Several Eastern Caribbean leaders will place a new dimension in Caribbean integration when they formally sign a treaty establishing an economic union of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, the outgoing Chairman of the Authority of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is among the leaders in Castries, St. Lucia for the signing of the OECS Economic Union Treaty.
The ceremony begins at six o clock on Friday 18th June and will be carried live on ZIZ Radio and television.
“We have a date with history,” OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael told the opening ceremony of an exhibition entitled “No Borders, New Frontiers: Discovering the Potential Within,” referring to the historic signing of a revised OECS treaty on Friday
That is when leaders of six independent member states of the grouping will put their signatures to the revised Treaty of Basseterre establishing the OECS Economic Union.
The OECS Director General notes that current and emerging global and other challenges point to the need to reinforce the resilience of member states to ensure their survival.
According Dr. Ishmael, the global economic crisis pointed to the strength that comes from the institutional architecture of this region.
She says it is this and other reasons which point to the wisdom of moving forward within a framework of even deeper union.
However St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Stephenson King warned that the road to economic unity, though creating better opportunities for the people of the sub-region would not be easy.