New Dominica Prime Minister Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit will address the opening ceremony of the OECS Heads of Government meeting which takes place in St. Lucia , January 22 nd and 23 rd .

 Mr. Skerrit took over the leadership of Dominica following the sudden death of Mr. Pierre Charles on January 6 th . During the business session of the meeting, he is also expected to present an update on Dominica 's economic recovery programme and his projections for the way forward.

The ceremony will also be addressed by host Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony. Current Chairman of the OECS Authority, Chief Minister Mr. John Osborne of Montserrat, only returned home this week after a medical operation in the United States and is unable to attend the meeting. The two day meeting is expected to agree on measures to further advance the movement towards an OECS economic union, including common OECS Citizenship, and the common OECS passport.

The Heads are also due to examine the level of implementation of the OECS Development strategy which will guide the future economic development of the sub-region. Several critical issues involved in current international trade negotiations, such as the proposed hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americas , are also down for discussion.

The Heads are also expected to give their approval for a number of cooperation initiatives which offer wide-ranging benefits to the people of the sub-region. These include stronger OECS/Puerto and OECS Guadeloupe relations. The OECS is a grouping of the nine Member States of Antigua/Barbuda, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

CONTACTS:
Kendol Morgan Senior Communications Officer OECS Secretariat This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Raymond O'Keiffe Communications Officer email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it