BVI Eligible for Association Membership in the Caribbean Forum

CARIFORUM director has confirmed that the British Virgin Islands is eligible for associate membership in this regional organization which engages in policy dialogue with the European Union on behalf of a number of Caribbean states. Confirmation of BVI eligibility became part of a CARIFORUM regional consultation in Barbados in April, which focused on establishing an effective platform for dialogue between CARIFORUM and French Caribbean Outermost Regions and British and Dutch OCTs.

The BVI will no longer be treated as OCT after the UK exits the European Union in March 2019, so the government of the territory is seeking the way to continue BVI current relationship with the EU through CARIFORUM. Currently member states of CARIFORUM include Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. 

The assistant secretary for external affairs in BVI Premier’s Office Christopher said in her comments: “We welcome that associate membership is open to the BVI. This status would give us a more meaningful status in CARIFORUM whereby we can participate in the Caribbean’s policy dialogue with the EU and regional coordination. At the moment we remain an observer.”