Thank you Mr. Chairman,
I am grateful for you for affording me the opportunity to stand before you today in my capacity as head of government of St. Kitts and Nevis after the historic victory of the St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party at the polls on August 5, 2022.
I am equally grateful to you and the government and people of Montserrat for the warm hospitality extended to me and the members of my delegation. We look forward to experiencing more of cultural offerings should time permit us to do so.
Mr. Chairman,
It is indeed an honour for me to address this august body of leaders, who all share a strong commitment to regional integration, be it on the economic, social, or environment development fronts. Our regional integration is not only robust, but deep in substance, and wide in scope, touching all the pillars of sustainable development. It is firmly rooted in the Revised Treaty of Basseterre, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the level of the United Nations.
My address today should be considered against the backdrop of the myriad of challenges which confront leaders of our region. Paramount among these are the economic fall out caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, disruptions in global supply chains leading to significant increases in the price of basic commodities, the clear and ever present danger posed by climate change, and closer to home, the crisis currently experienced by our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
Mr. Chairman, it is imperative that we reflect on, and consider practical solutions to the challenges that confront us. These challenges not only obscure our clear vision, but threaten to steer us from the path of achieving our targets enshrined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. We must never lose sight of our ethos - working to make a difference in the lives of the people whom we have the privilege to lead.
Allow me to take you back to June 18, 1981, at the signing ceremony of the original Treaty of Basseterre. This modest, yet significant event took place on the front steps of Government Headquarters, Basseterre, the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis, where seven representatives of governments of the WISA Council affirmed their commitment to the birth of a new regional organisation – the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
The mandate of the OECS was, among other things:
(i) to promote co-operation among its Member States
(ii) to promote unity and solidarity among its member states and defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence,
(iii) to seek to achieve the fullest possible harmonisation of foreign policy among the Member States; to seek to adopt, as far as possible, common positions on international issues and to establish and maintain wherever possible, arrangements for joint overseas representation and/or common services.
(iv) to promote economic integration among the Member States through the provisions of the Agreement Establishing the East Caribbean Common Market.
Twenty (20) years later, the OECS evolved into an Economic Union, thereby deepening the level of integration, incorporating the free movement of all nationals of the Member States who signed the Protocol. This improved iteration of the OECS is embodied in the Revised Treaty of Basseterre.
Mr. Chairman,
My invitation to us to take a walk down memory lane was not intended to evoke feelings of nostalgia or to pat ourselves on our backs for the strides we have taken along this fearless path of regional integration. I would rather invite us to explore the possibilities of expanding the scope of our movement.
I am encouraged by the body of work that has been taken by the OECS Commission and the individual Member States to take the process forward by implementing the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Basseterre. Decisions to be taken at this very meeting of the Authority on the Portability of Social Security Benefits, Contingent Rights Policy Implementation, Capacity Building for officials, and the finalization of an OECS Unique Identification card are steps in the right direction. We should leave this meeting with a deeper level of commitment to our cause.
Mr. Chairman,
One of the hallmark features of the OECS has been the “establishment of joint overseas representation and/or common services”. Today we have joint embassies in Brussels, Belgium, Rabat, Morocco, and a Technical Mission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. I am convinced that we should build on this foundation and spread our diplomatic footprint on the African Continent and further afield.
We may wish to engage the African Union by considering Observer Status, giving us a seat at the table where matters related to trade, investment, and cultural cooperation are discussed. We may also wish to deepen our level of engagement by establishing a presence in major cities like Abuja, Nigeria, Accra, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa. The possibilities are endless.
We have started the discussions with the Afriexembank. I urge us to take the subject of joint representation to a higher level and make the necessary decisions to enable us to reap the rewards to be derived from this increased level of engagement.
It is difficult for us to achieve our development objectives if we ignore the challenges posed by the proverbial elephant in the room-Glaring gaps in our intraregional transportation sector. We cannot have an efficient economic union without addressing this issue frontally. An efficient and sustainable transportation system will yield benefits for investment, trade and movement of people- two pillars of our regional integration movement.
An important part of the discussion should also include a strategy for enhancing the viability and sustainability of our Citizenship By Investment Programmes. Many of our countries are dependant on the revenues generated by this programme but we must not be short sighted or sell our countries short. We must be cognizant of the risks associated with devaluing our programme and develop a united approach which will ensure the viability and continued success of the programme for all our member states. My final statement relates to the need for us to take action to strengthen our regional institutions.
These include, but are not limited to:
(i) the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank,
(ii) the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
(iii) the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority, and
(iv) the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority
Our actions at the individual Member level must implement decisions taken by the respective Councils and the Authority. Failure to implement decisions serve to undermine the strong foundation of the OECS. We should also commit to providing the resources necessary for implementing these decisions. I wish to reaffirm the commitment of St. Kitts and Nevis to strengthen our OECS Economic Union. Rest assured that I will do all in my power to oversee the implementation of the decisions emanating from this meeting of the Authority.
Mr. Chairman,
I thank you once more for affording me the opportunity to make these few remarks at today’s opening ceremony.
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