Officials of Puerto Rico and the OECS at the ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the OECS office in Puerto Rico Check the Communication's Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister

OECS leaders held a very productive meeting with the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, His Excellency Fernando Bonilla during their 45th OECS Authority Meeting in St. Georges, Grenada last week.

According to the communique issued at the end of the meeting, discussions surrounded the new OECS Office which opened in Puerto Rico in October 2006 which is designed to promote trade, investment and tourism opportunities in OECS Member States.

"The Secretary of State presented to OECS Heads the possibility of benefiting from new capital infrastructure being developed in Puerto Rico to transform that country into a major transshipment point for goods originating from China and other parts of South-East Asia. ~~Adz:Right~~

The Meeting also discussed plans for the redevelopment of two airports in Puerto Rico to support the movement of air cargo, and ways in which the OECS countries could benefit," the communique said.

It added that the Puerto Rico Secretary of State also presented information on making available to OECS Member States new technologies being developed by Puerto Rico in Air and Sea transportation security and surveillance.

Other initiatives underway include the development of a major dry dock for ocean going vessels.

The Meeting between the OECS leaders of the English-speaking Caribbean nations and the Spanish-speaking U.S. Commonwealth also discussed the possibility of continued collaboration in the development of cruise tourism, and the provision of pharmaceutical supplies as part of the pool of supplies to the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Services programme.

The Secretary of State of Puerto Rico and OECS Heads reaffirmed their intention to continue to work towards full implementation of the various initiatives contained in the Memorandum of Understanding executed between the two groups in 2004