A historic year-long public dialogue on the way forward for the economic union of the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will be launched in Dominca next week. A press release from the Office of the Prime Minister has equated the event to the formation of the OECS more than 26 years ago. Chairman of the OECS Authority and Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit will be joined by OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael as well as Head of the OECS Economic Union Task Force and Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Sir Dwight Venner for the occasion. The launch of public dialogue on the economic union will begin on April 23rd. The member countries of the OECS are Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the three British Overseas Territories of the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat. The Treaty establishing the OECS - the Treaty of Basseterre - was signed on June 18, 1981. The organisation was formed to promote functional cooperation on a wide range of matters and foster unity and solidarity among member states. Reprinted from radioja.com