CATEGORY:SPEECH -------------------- INSIDE GRENADA SATURDAY May 26,2007 Mr. Chairman, Governor General of Grenada, His Excellency Sir Daniel Williams and Lady Williams Colleague OECS Heads of Government Fellow Members of Cabinet Leader of the Opposition Members of Parliament Members of the Press Ladies and Gentlemen Brothers and Sisters It is an honor for me to welcome you to Grenada, the Spice Island of the Caribbean and the "true gem" of the Grenadines. It is a special moment for me to welcome you to this, the first OECS Authority Meeting, to be held on our shores, since the passage of those two devastating Hurricanes, Ivan and Emily, just shy of three years ago. I am sure that you would wish to join with the Government and People of our fair Grenada in celebrating the recovery and reconstruction which has occurred since, firmly placing Grenada back on its pre-hurricane path to growth and development. On behalf of our people, allow me to once again thank you, our OECS Colleagues for the significant contribution which you and your people have made to us in our darkest hours. History will record the selfless contributions made by all of you, particularly given your own financial circumstance. One passage of scripture tells us: "by their fruits they shall be known" and I declare today that "by your fruits" manifested here in Grenada, you have once again shown our OECS grouping to be strong, relevant and responsive to the needs of our people. While our Forty-Fifth Meeting of the Authority, reflects a comprehensive Agenda of priority themes, all holding tremendous importance for our sub-region, allow me to proffer commentary on three. Programme for the Improvement of Statistical Systems *************** As a statistician, I'm particularly heartened by the Programme for the Improvement of Statistical Systems. Indeed, the quality of our economic policies, the integrity of the developmental targets and benchmarks which we set, and indeed the development vision which we tirelessly labor to establish for the people of the OECS will disappoint, unless and until we can consistently produce our own reliable statistics. I therefore wish to applaud the OECS Secretariat, in collaboration with the East Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) for the initiative in this area, and urge that after the positive endorsement of this Meeting, that you treat this matter as a "first-order" priority. OECS Economic Union ********************* Brothers and Sisters, globalization and regionalism have made the establishment of an OECS Economic Union critical to the survival of our sub-regional integration arrangement. However, in order for us to secure whatever value is left in pursuing the Economic Union, we must expeditiously move from plan to action in bringing into existence the attendant administrative arrangements. While there are a few areas in which I am satisfied that we have a little time to dot the "I"s and cross the "T"s, for a number of critical areas, we are fast running out of both time and space. Having very recently re-assumed responsibilities as Minister of Finance, I am alarmed at the extent to which commitments in various areas, such as finance, investment and services overlap, across the WTO, European Partnership Arrangement (EPA) and CSME spheres. Treating with these cross-cutting commitments and the manner in which they may impede the full attainment of our OECS Economic Union objectives, as well as the next critical operational steps towards the establishment of such a Union, must be considered among the several issues which must occupy our attention at this Meeting. CWC 2007 ********** Brothers and sisters Grenada has benefited significantly from the hosting of CWC 2007. We empathize and to some extent share in the concerns with others have raised, but for us CWC 2007, afforded us an opportunity to leap-frog infrastructural development by at least 5 years. Today it gives us great satisfaction to report that the proud men and women of this country seized on this opportunity and all that went with it, in that process delivering some of the best games of the tournament. While the effect of the tournament on economic activity has not yet been quantified and I endorse wholeheartedly, the recommendation to OECS Heads calling for an economic impact assessment study; our food and bar service industry, hotels, beverage manufacturers, transportation and other hospitality industries benefited tremendously. Our agricultural sector did not do as well as expected, but we have learnt important lessons which will allow us to better prepare and advise our farming community in the future. This country has already begun to reap dividends from the global media exposure which the tournament facilitated and from the dissemination of our message that "Grenada is again fully open to business". My Government continues to be grateful to the Government and People of China for the gift of our stadium, which is widely regarded by the ICC to be one of the best in the region. Transportation *************** Colleagues, Grenada continues to be affected negatively by the high cost of air and sea transportation. In fact, of all the factors which impinge on our development, transportation ranks among the most significant. I'm myself convinced that all our efforts at constructing a social, economic and politically cohesive OECS, will flounder unless we bring resolution to our difficulties with transportation. There now exists a perception among our traffickers and the wider business community that the high and rising cost of air transportation bears a direct relationship to the merger of LIAT and Caribbean Star, which essentially re-creates a monopoly. In this context, the recent statements by the LIAT CEO, is quite unfortunate, and ranks alongside the comments by the Coach of the West Indies Cricket Team, who in his response to the question why the team did not have a spinner, remarked that it was because Chris Gayle was the best spinner in the Caribbean. Quite seriously though, the comment by the LIAT CEO and the continuing management challenges being faced by the airline is quite disconcerting. Grenada continues to carry costs for the Airlines. In fact, we are still repaying millions in loans undertaken for previous restructuring exercises. We remain committed to the ideal of a regional airline, for this reason we look forward to our deliberations on transportation and the crafting of concrete recommendations. Security ********** Brothers and sisters, our cooperation in the area of security during the hosting of the CWC 2007, should give us all a sense of great pride. Our Governments worked together sharing intelligence, manpower and other resources within our single Caribbean Space. Indeed, we have been commended by many top security experts in the international community for our efforts, but we must not rest. Now that World Cup is over, we must continue to prepare ourselves for any eventuality. I therefore call on our Governments to continue the good work of ensuring that our borders are secure. We should seize the opportunity of extending our successful collaboration into a permanent arrangement for information sharing and security. We in the OECS do not have the resources at this time to effectively police our waters. However, we face the same threats. Establishing an OECS and ultimately a CARICOM Agreement on Cooperation in the area of Maritime Security will be of tremendous assistance to our drug enforcement and other security programmes. Colleagues, let us use the opportunity of this the 45th Meeting of the Authority to engage in an exchange of views on this subject and if feasible take the next step of engaging with the Governments of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. Conclusion *********** As I conclude, let me once again take this opportunity to welcome you to Grenada, a country and people that continues to contribute beyond its size to the development of our people of the OECS. It would not have been lost on any of us that with the signature of the Grand-Anse Declaration, that this venue has become famous for its landmark decisions. We must draw on the spirit of our fore-bearers who toiled and perished under an inhumane transatlantic slave trade, and the vicious institutions of slavery to afford us the opportunity to be masters of our own destiny; We must build on that integrationist spirit, of great minds such as Donovan, Marryshow, Bishop and others, We must take advantage of the perpetual calming and positive atmosphere of Grand Anse, in framing decisions which will contribute to the advancement and development of our OECS People. I thank you.