EASTERN CARIBBEAN TO TALK UNIQUE MARKET IN ANTIGUA SUMMIT

Saint John, August 10 (PL)- The Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS) will hold today its annual Summit in Antigua and Barbuda to address, among other, the health of their unique market and support to their economic expansion.

Some 40 Legislators are expected to arrange two provisions on good governance within the organization; the OECS Economic Union via a commercial integration treaty sanctioned in Jan. 2011.

The OECS - made up of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Montserrat, plus Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands as Associates- was founded in 1973 in St. Kitts and Nevis after the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre, replacing the Association of East Indian States.

Among its goals lies coordinating aid to the member countries and developing economic, political and social cooperation.

Most of these countries are members of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank that controls foreign trade, a joint Supreme Court and joint military command with headquarter in Barbados.

They also have a unique currency (the East Caribbean Dollar), common export tariffs, and visa and tax exemption on human traffic and on trade.

<