Commonwealth Workshop Organized for OECS Countries

A workshop for the OECS countries takes place on 4-8 March 2013 in St Lucia, hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. The activity targets Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the OECS Secretariat, and aims to enhance the capacity of the jurisdictions to develop, implement and monitor effective national and regional trade policies and boost participation in regional and international trade negotiations.

The representatives of the countries participating in the training include senior officials responsible for trade policy, statistics and trade negotiations. It is funded by the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is a key development partner of the region.  

Veniana Qalo, economic advisor at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said that during the workshop a Commonwealth guide for small states negotiators is to be presented, highlighting successful approaches that can be used to help these capacity constrained economies to leverage successful outcomes, despite their size.