Business Focus

Congratulations to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) as it celebrates its 34th Anniversary since the original signing of the Treaty of Basseterre. The vision of our founding Leaders needs to be recognized as the OECS has made major strides in advancing economic union and a number of other regional initiatives which
continue to impact positively across the Member States.

The AMS Team wishes the OECS every success with promoting and developing the OECS Single Economy and its ongoing Trade and Investment initiatives thereby, opening doors to opportunity for the OECS Private Sector and new Entrepreneurs.

Welcome to Issue 2 of the OECS Business Focus Magazine as we continue to cover the issues that impact our region and open the doors to doing and growing business. 

Our special “Thank You” to all the persons across the region and beyond for their positive comments on the first issue of this publication. Since our last publication there have been many issues which have affected our region and trust that they will have a lastingeffect at galvanising our community with a common purpose.

The current winter season has seen a surgein tourism arrivals and a new wave of significant tourism investments across theregion giving hope to a revival of economic fortunes. In some islands this has beendriven by the success of the CIP which has become the catalyst for new and significant revenue inflows and increased investment. In others this has been due to natural beauty and touristic appeal supported by generous incentives offered by the Governments.

In this our 4th edition of the OECS Business Focus Magazine we are pleased to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States with our Special Feature dedicated to highlighting the wide and varied efforts and initiatives in their quest of promoting “One Community – Growing Together”.

We salute the vision and actions of the Founding Leaders as over the past 35 years the Organisation has achieved much for which we can all be proud. As an Organisation the OECS has grown to be a model regional grouping of Island States which has been lauded internationally for many of its achievements and initiatives some of which have evolved into outstanding success stories.

The OECS Commission continues to push ahead with a number of initiatives aimed at realising the opportunities available through the OECS Single Market and Economy, and a seamless system to promote and facilitate the export of goods and services across the OECS countries and beyond. We have seen the efforts of the Commission with harmonising the regional Customs tariffs and systems, finding solutions to the shipping issues to move products across the region and other efforts at trying to get the islands to work together on other initiatives such as the recent launching of the ILand Project, and the protection of our environment which is critical to the sustainability of our tourism industry..

In this Our 5th Issue of the OECS Business Focus Magazine, we are pleased to present a Special Feature on Grenada - another OECS Market which is showing positive economic growth with major opportunities for investment and development. The Government of Grenada has established the legal framework and related agencies to fast track and facilitate investment with real success. We urge you to explore the many exciting opportunities in this market. 

In the last decade, the East Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), under the leadership of the late Sir K. Dwight Venner has risen to prominence as the champion of financial and economic stability and growth in the East Caribbean Currency Union  (ECCU) especially since the global economic collapse of 2017

What a year 2017 has been for the people and economies of the Eastern Caribbean and the wider region. The catastrophic impact of the two Category 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria left behind a ravaged and devastated region with demands for major funding, aid and relief supplies from neighbouring islands, friendly countries and agencies regionally and internationally. 

 Anguilla, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Kitts Nevis and St Marteen were some of the islands hardest hit by these two monster storms with Barbuda being declared uninhabitable and almost every home and national infrastructure in Dominica being lost or seriously damaged. 

The experience of 2017 call for a total review of outbuilding codes and the need to shift to more renewable sources of energy to safeguard against such occurrences in the future.

We trust that you will enjoy the content of Issue 8 of the OECS Business Focus Magazine and we look forward to your comments

Our Special Feature in this issue is a Focus on Technology. This emerging sector is the fastest growing industry across the region impacting all spheres of life and persons of all ages in almost every environment. It has the capacity to emerge as a major economic sector harnessing the talent in the region and creating new wealth and a new breed of regional entrepreneurs who can compete globally with the export of their skills and services.

In this edition of the Magazine, our Special Feature celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the CARICOM Development Fund, This organisation has been quietly but actively supporting regional development initiatives for the benefit of the many communities which have been impacted positively. We commend the visionary countries who created the CDF and provided the necessary resources and support to ensure they were able to successfully deliver on their mandate.