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Host of the 2006 CARICOM Heads of St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime MinisterHon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas and other Presidents, Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers
| BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, JANUARY 1ST 2007 (CUOPM) - Current CARICOM Chairman, St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said Monday 2006 was punctuated with the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) to which his nation, along with several other OECS member countries, signed on at last year's Heads of Government Conference of the Caribbean Community that was held here in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis.In his traditional address to the Federation to mark New Year's Day, Dr. Douglas said that the commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre that brought into being the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) was also of special significance, because itwas in St. Kitts and Nevis that the celebrations culminated with the raisingof the OECS Flag for the first time.
"This symbol of OECS cooperation was further exemplified with the signing of documents of intent ~~Adz:Right~~relating to the formation of an OECS Economic Union," said Prime Minister Douglas.He said his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Government is persuaded that regional integration, at both the CARICOM and the OECS level, can bring great benefits to the Federation."In particular, the effective development of the CSME and the OECS Economic Union would promote and enable further business development in the region, and as a result help to strengthen individual economies and foster employment from local and regional investment initiatives.
The CSME would also expand the economic space in which our enterprises operate and provide new avenues of growth and development for them," said Prime Minister Douglas."But if we are to take full advantage of the opportunities created by deeperregional integration we must continue to devote considerable attention to human resource development. At the core of this matter is the necessity to transform our human resources into highly competitive and productive units in terms of skills, education, productivity, quality of service and all of the other attributes of excellence," said Dr. Douglas, who emphasised that human resource development, "ie investment in our human capital, must occupyan important place in our projections and plans for the year ahead and for the medium- and long-term."
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