OECS Ambassador in Geneva Meets with Executive Director of the International Trade Centre

OECS Media Release

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Ambassador accredited to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva, His Excellency Ambassador Colin Murdoch, was received by Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC) on Friday April 8, 2022. Ambassador Murdoch was accompanied by Joel Richards, Senior Technical Specialist – Trade at the OECS Mission in Geneva.

The Ambassador and the Executive Director discussed several areas of recent cooperation between the OECS and the ITC, as well as several areas earmarked for future collaboration. 

In terms of recent collaboration, the Ambassador and Executive Director recalled the Caribbean Regional Coconut Development Project - a project which aims to increase the productivity and profitability of the coconut crop by creating added value,and building inclusive value chains and stronger market linkages. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were direct beneficiaries. 

Both parties also recalled joint work in the areas of food safety and the development of national export strategies for select OECS Member States. Overall, these projects impacted positively on rural livelihoods, including for women; promoted economic diversification; and built economic and social resilience in the OECS.

Regarding areas of future work, of immediate priority is the renewal of the OECS-ITC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Areas of cooperation likely to emerge from the MOU include:

  • Development of protocols for facilitating and regulating intra-OECS trade;

  • Firm-level competitiveness, particularly with a gendered dimension; 

  • Framework for business market intelligence;

  • Facilitating/promoting inter-sectoral linkages;

  • Mainstreaming of green business initiatives and practices and; 

  • Strengthening of trade and investment support institutions. 

Ambassador Murdoch and Ms. Coke-Hamilton pledged to continue and strengthen the relationship between the OECS and the ITC.

Joel Richards

Senior Technical Specialist, Permanent Delegation of the OECS in Geneva, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

OECS Communications Unit

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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About The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. The OECS came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate with each other while promoting unity and solidarity among its Members. The Treaty became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, so named in honour of the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis where it was signed. The OECS today, currently has eleven members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

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