EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ADVICES PRIVATE SECTOR IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN TO ORGANIZE

Roseau, August 22 (PL)- The Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Sir Dwight Venner, called the private sector to organize in the framework of European economic integration of the countries of the sub-region.

At a conference organized by the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC), Venner urged businessmen to finish "wake up and smell the coffee".

He said they must realize that the global economic crisis has exposed and exacerbate the structural problems that had been hidden in the past, and called them to sensitized to this situation.

Venner added the private sector has an important role to play in the newly formed Economic Union within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

He said that not only governments must act together within the Economic Union, but also that the private sector has to find their role within that structure.

The private sector has to be the driver of this process, but it is not sufficiently organized, he stated, and reminded them that there must be entities producing either goods or services.

"Something has to be produced and in a competitive way and the only way you can do that is if we get together to see where we can cut costs, where we can negotiate better prices...and that sort of thing", he said.

In one version of his speech released by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), Venner told the private sector that pretending that "we can solve things without doing the math is going to be a very frustrating exercise”.

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