OECS Heads of Government have changed the dates for the 44th meeting of the OECS Authority to January 11th and 12th 2007. The meeting, which was originally scheduled for November 9th and 10th 2006, will still take place in Antigua and Barbuda. 

The OECS Heads are expected to further advance the process towards an OECS Economic Union by reaching agreement on a public awareness and consultation campaign, with the Heads at the forefront. The campaign will be built around a new OECS Economic Treaty, unveiled at the 43rd Meeting of the OECS Authority in June this year. The Heads, at that meeting, signed a Declaration of Intent to have the Treaty passed in their respective countries following the consultation process.

The meeting will give Heads an opportunity to discuss the proposed merger between regional airlines LIAT and Caribbean Star. The Heads will also further examine a provision by the Trinidad and Tobago government of about seven million TT dollars monthly to the OECS, through a special window for security and other nationally driven projects.

The Heads will examine the possibility of applying the methods used in the highly acclaimed OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement Services (PPS) to the bulk purchasing of text books for OECS Member States. The joint purchasing of pharmaceuticals has resulted in significant savings and lower costs to OECS public health institutions. 

The Meeting will receive recommendations from recent meetings of OECS Ministers of Tourism and Agriculture for advancing the two critical sectors of the economy.

The OECS Member States are Antigua/Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.