Regional businesses deepening ties

CMC – The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Business Council  (OBC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Private Sector Organization (CPSO) formalizing the mutual interaction and strengthens the existing relationship between them.

A statement issued following the signing agreement said that it is also intended to strengthen the strategic and working level to foster trade, business growth, job creation, and economic and social empowerment.

OBC was established in 2016 and is currently undergoing revitalization to strengthen the sub-regional private sector’s voice and effectively address the developmental issues specific to the OECS business environment.

CPSO is an associate institution of CARICOM and is mandated to support the full integration of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services.

OBC chairman, Gordon Charles, welcomed the agreement with the CPSO, praising it for its very strong balance at ensuring that the concerns of all of its members are taken into consideration.

“It is supposed to champion the voice of the private sector for the OECS region and one of our goals, like the CPSO, is to become an associate institution of the OECS at some governance level so that we have a voice at the decision-making level.”

Head of the CPSO Secretariat, Dr. Patrick Antoine, said that the MOU was not merely a symbolic instrument, but a catalyst for private sector growth and market expansion in that it now provided a formal framework for cooperation with Guadeloupe, Martinique, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands through the OECS’ agreements with these states.

He said the MOU “essentially forms a platform for cooperation which is above and beyond the formal platform that we have within the CARICOM framework, so that really, what we do have today, is what we’ve always wanted in CARICOM and is, in fact, a manifestation of our search for scale”.

The OBC benefits from the OECS Commission’s ongoing support under the European Union funded 11th  European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Integration Through Growth Harmonisation and Technology (RIGHT) project, which includes the provision of technical support to the Council.

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